Checkmated !
by Dixxy
Summary: Oh, not gonna be that difficult !, had said Cyborg, for all Beast Boy would have to do was...BUT HEY, one doesn't mess up with magic without... some consequences, right ? So better leave the sorceress's stuff where it is... Yet a forfeit's a forfeit, had said Cyborg, and so... Beast Boy just HAD to do "it" ! And a certain half-demon won't like "it" a bit... Smiles out ! :D N'JOY !
1. Welcome to the Chessboard !

_**C_H_E_C_K_M_A_T_E_D_!**_

" **0" /./././** **WELCOME TO THE CHESSBOARD** **! /./././**

 **Greetings, You !**

 **So yeah, indeed : welcome (to the Chessboard) !**

 **This is actually a FOREWORD, in which I will explain a few things and make a dedication for this story, so if you're one of those eager / impatient teenagers (or adults, coz I know that there are some "old farts" on here… even got to know a** _ **fifty**_ **-year-old, figure out !), then ya can skip this and jump directly to next chappy, which is the real start of the story plot.**

 **For those who are patient enough to stay… a great THANXXXX first, for helping me avoid to insult ya like I did wz the impatient ones… nah, scratch that, I didN'T insult anybody here, promised ( * cross fingers behind my back * )… and then, after thanking ya, here comes a not-so-lil' bit of explanation about this story here !**

 **So uh… where to begin wz ? Ah yes, HERE : I've tried my hand at different genres up to now : lemons (one mixing sex wz love, the other blending sex wz friendship), adventures (containing lotta drama and suspense each time, one also including love), lesbian love stories (involving drama, one of them also containing a bit of action), suspenseful drama (wz a human-alien love plot), and finally horror story (first attempt at this genre… and first one-shot).**

 **Ya know, I'm like a supermarket : ya can find a bit of everything at "Dixxy's", eh eh !**

 **But there is a genre I never wrote about, and which I had been considering giving a try at : COMEDY ! :D**

 **My favourite type of films and readings is drama, and that somehow rubbed off on my writing : my plotlines are indeed almost always based on drama (except for the lemons). But I still like good comic stuff, not silly one, cheesy one, "easy" one, but something that's either clever / subtle humor or something quirky. The main idea is to avoid making it "cheap", too basic… I'm not one for "easy laughs", y'know !**

 **And its kind of a challenge for me, coz I'm so used to tragic or suspenseful or dark plots (I feel almost depressed as I write those words, duh !) that now suddenly choosing to make laugh definitely doesn't go wzout saying. I'm in unfamiliar territory here… but hey, why not a tall order every now and then, instead of remaining in the same clear and calm waters of WellKnownLand ! (never heard of it ? sure ? ya will, ya will…)**

 **So I'm on my way to craft what I hope will be a good comedy, but rather faltering about the outcome. Yet I'm still slowly climbing up the stairs leading to the Chessboard, my fingers crossed hard for an achievement of sort.**

 **As always, I'll be dedicating this story to someone in particular. I always do that (OCD much ?) : I just like my efforts to be notably made for a precise person, or sometimes two or three precise persons. And given that this is a comedy, the dedicatee is quite easy to name :**

 _ **SKYCHILD101**_

 **This Serbian-Canadian authoress (yes, I know, Ana : I DID spill the beans about your ID… sue me ! XD) is much of an oddball… and a goofball together ! (you're welcome, Ana !) And we've had so many crazy laughs together that it seems only fair that I dedicate this entertaining fic' to her. Which is the second story in a row that I address to her specifically ! Hope ya like this one, Ana, ya nutty teen who always manage to pull at least a smile off me ! :D**

 **So yeah, that was it for the FOREWORD. Ah, and please be merciful wz me glossary- wise and grammar-wise : English is not my mother tongue (it's French, I come from the French part of Switzerland, one of Europa's tiniest countries ! * V-sign * ), so I have to look up many words to make sure I don't use them improperly, but even like that, I'm aware that my writing will sound awkward sometimes so… thanxxxx for bearing wz Imperfect Old Me and not crucifying me for every single language imprecision or clumsiness ! Your indulgence will be way appreciated ! ( * start preparing gifts for merciful reviewers * )**

 **Alright, there I am, standing wz ya all, dear Folxxxx, right on the side of the Chessboard. It's time to start the game, isn't it ? Hopefully it'll be amusing enough to ya all… and therefore postpone a bit more my first FFailure ! ^^**

 **Okay, time for the first move ! And so, just like that, it's time to…**

 **N'JOY !**

 **/./././ Léo /./././**


	2. The name of the (game) FORFEIT !

" **1" -*-*-*-*-** **THE NAME OF THE (** **GAME** **) FORFEIT** **-*-*-*-*-**

"You're joking, right ?" asked the green boy, somewhat hesitantly.

"Do I look like I am ?" the half-metal teenager replied, smirking mischievously.

The changeling gave him a knowing look.

"Actually… you DO, Man !"

Cyborg guffawed.

"Okay, I admit it : I do…"

Then he gained a fake serious expression, as he finished his sentence :

"… yet I **mean** it !"

Beast Boy's eyes became as round – and almost as big… - as flying saucers.

"Dude, you CAN'T possibly mean it !" he yelled, flabbergasted.

"Mean what ?"

They both jolted, the shapeshifter letting a high-pitched scream out, and simultaneously turned around to meet their leader's stare.

He had approached them as silently as a cat – although a cat wouldn't wear multicolored clothes making him resemble a traffic light… or even a mask, for that matter… - and was standing by them, arms crossed, waiting for an answer.

"Hum, eh eh… hi, Robin !" sheepishly said Beast Boy, rubbing the back of his head as he felt his body temperature suddenly rise.

"Hi !" the young acrobat briefly replied, his position remaining unchanged. He was still waiting.

And the two friends knew him all too well to predict he wouldn't leave before being explained everything. That was just Robin… as much of a killjoy that made him, sometimes.

"Hum, BB and I were about to make a bet, and he thought I was joking when I told him what he should do if he lost…" explained the Titan Tech.

Boy Wonder didn't even sketch a movement, making him a good participant for next "human statue" contest.

He was patiently waiting for the precision about that forfeit.

"Dude, please !" begged Beast Boy, staring at Cyborg.

The latter looked at him, secretly rejoicing at his buddy being forced to beg, then back at Robin.

"I was asking him, if he lost, to.. oh damn, after all : to swallow half a pot of mustard ! There, I've said it !"

He didn't meet the eye of his green friend, nevertheless knowing he was flabbergasted by the answer he, Cyborg, had given to their leader. Flabbergasted… and relieved !

The Masked Titan uncrossed his arms and sighed.

"You've said it, yeah... And I'm outta here !"

And Batman's sidekick turned his back and walked away, visibly shaking his head and muttering to himself… probably about the level of intelligence of "those two right behind"…

"Gee, I thought you'd spill the beans, Dude !" the morpher said on an accusing tone.

"I love beans too much to spill them : no bean waste with me !" the cybernetic teenager said as he patted his stomach.

"Ah. Ah. Ah." replied his green buddy, spacing out his "Ah" to show how very UNfunny that was.

"I knew you'd _**love**_ that one, B !" said Cy with a wink, before adding : "Alright, do we play that videogame or not, Man ?"

"Don't ask me twice !" hurriedly spoke out the animal-shifter as he grabbed one of the controllers, suddenly very focused.

The Tech sat on the couch as well and also grabbed a controller. But before actually starting the game…

"And remember : if you lose…" he said with narrowed eyes and a knowing smirk.

"Knock it off and start that damn game !" complained Beast Boy.

"Okay okay. Here."

Cyborg turned on the console and both chose their respective characters.

Yet before the fight began…

"Bet you'd prefer to actually swallow half a pot of mustard as forfeit…" he muttered, but loud enough for the shapeshifter to hear.

"DUDE !" shouted his friend, his green eyes sending daggers galore at him.

"Just saying, eh…"

"Shut up and play, you bonehead !"

"Ouch, how tough…"

"SHUT IT !"

The half-machine man raised both hands up, indicating he was surrendering…

…yet he couldn't help chuckling up his sleeve right when the fight was beginning !

"I'm gonna rip Zangief's head off, and then you'll laugh less, when you'll have to comply with MY punishment…!"

More chuckling nearby.

Nine minutes and 57 seconds later, Beast Boy was throwing his game controller on the table.

"HEY ! Watch out ! That's fragile !" yelled a suddenly less amused Cyborg.

"Yeah yeah, sorry ! But hell, I can't win against that Russian wrestler ! Damn and damn and damn !"

"Well, that's still no reason to wreck a videogame controller, Man !"

"Humpf… okay, sorry, I said !"

"You better be !"

The large Titan was literally fuming. But after two minutes, he decided to forgive his bestie, as the latter had apologized for the third time… a _grand premiere_ for such a proud folk as him !

"Guess Blanka isn't as strong as his muscles let it think, eh ?" the flesh 'n' metal guy teased his buddy, mischievous again.

"Okay okay, gimme a break, will you ? Zangief is all muscles as well. You just were quicker than me…"

"… and more accurate, hey, B !"

"Whatever…"

There was a long silence, the changeling trying to postpone as long as he could that moment when he would have to…

"…comply with the bet's conditions !"

Beast Boy had missed the beginning of Cyborg's sentence, but he knew it was unimportant since he had still heard the most important part… and secretly wished he had rather heard first part and missed last part.

"Dude, I know we had agreed on the forfeit I'd get if I lost, but… Man, you can't ask me to do _**THAT**_ ! She's gonna rip my butt to confetti if she finds out !" half-screamed the morpher.

"Bet's bet, Buddy !"

"Oh come on, Cy ! Ask me just _**any**_ other thing… well, ALMOST any other thing, I'll do it ! But this… Please, Dude !"

"Look, BB, I'm pretty sure she will never find out. We'll choose a moment when we're sure she's not going to return to her room before a while. That way, you won't risk being caught. Besides, it won't take you _that_ long to do it ! So… easy, Man, easy ! We'll make sure she stays away from her room long enough. And your… hum, butt, as you say, will be safe. Trust me on this one, Man !"

The green teenager stared at his best friend for long seconds, then gave a long sigh as his shoulders slumped.

"Pffffff… guess I can't change your mind, eh ?"

"You can't."

"You're pretty suborn, Tin Man."

"I am."

"So I have else nothing to do but accept, right ?"

"You haven't… uh, you have… errr, ya catch my drift, Green Bean !"

"Okay then… if I _**M.U.S.T.**_ …"

"You _**M.U.S.T.**_ !"

And that was the end of it. Bet was bet, as Cyborg had said.

Beast Boy felt everything but reassured as he forced himself to follow the corridor to a certain door he dreaded to approached…

…with a name he knew all too well right in the middle…

 _ **RAVEN**_

Robin had decided to put their names on the doors one day, which was almost whimsical from him… given that everybody knew in which room everyone else slept.

But a donkey wouldn't have beaten their leader in a stubbornness contest, so… the names had still been placed on the doors, and not even the Dark Titan had objected about it. After all, as long as nobody DARED to interrupt her meditations sessions, she couldn't care less about the rest.

Meditation… that was precisely what she was doing at the moment, Cyborg had told him.

His buddy was currently in the common room, keeping watch on the powerful – and, hum, moody… - sorceress as she hovered by the picture window, and he made believe he was absorbed in a newspapers article about recent technological progress… while in fact regularly glancing at the empath from over the paper, to make sure she wasn't about to return to her room yet.

Therefore, the muscular teenager had the situation under control and things were going pretty well… ahum, that is, if you except Robin's interruption, when he asked the Tech how come it took him that long to read the same page ! On that occasion had Cyborg's surveillance faltered, and he had awkwardly thanked his teammate before turning the page, claiming to have been zoning out for a minute and forgotten to carry his reading onto the next page.

And to his great relief, Raven was still there, hovering and chanting her mantra, when he resumed spying on her.

In case she would stop her meditation, the plan was that Cyborg would ask her where she was going, and in case she made it clear she was heading back to her room, he would send a signal to Beast Boy's T-communicator, and the green boy would thus know that _she_ was approaching… and that he had better get his butt out of her room if he didn't want it... ripped to confetti !

Sighing heavily, the shapeshifter cautiously opened the door…

"HELLO FRIEND BEAST BOY !"

"AAAAARGH !"

The loud greeting behind his back had scared the hell out of him and almost made him wet his pants.

Almost.

His heart rivaling with a jackhammer, coldsweat bathing his back, breathing heavily, he hurried to close Raven's door, turned around and goggled at the red-haired alien standing there, hands being her back, smiling innocently at him.

"Star… hasn't Robin told you that you should NEVER silently approach someone from behind and suddenly talk loud ?"

"Oh no, Friend Robin has not told me about the approaching from behind. Is that a bad thing ?"

There was confusion written all over her pretty and ingenuous face.

"See, the thing is that you scare people if you do so. And as you can see, you **did** scare me, and I'm just recovering from it ! So please… don't do that again, okay ?"

Her expression changed from puzzlement to abashment.

"Oh, I am indeed awfully sorry for scaring you and forcing you to recover ! I shall never do that again, Friend Beast Boy !" Then a question popped up in her candid mind and… "But if I want to talk to you when you have your back at me, and cannot see me, how do I do then ? How do I do it without scaring you ?"

Not expecting such a logical and pertinent question from her, the green-skinned boy didn't immediately know how to reply.

"Hum… it would be best if you talk from further away, before getting closer… or maybe if you made some noise as you arrive, so that I know someone's coming… okay ?"

"It is okay, yes. I do thank you for the piece of advice." A brief silence. "Oh, and if you are looking for Friend Raven, you will not find her in her room : she is meditating by the big window in the lounge."

The changeling's attitude suddenly shifted from upset to embarrassment.

"Oh yes ? Really ?" he asked, trying to sound surprised, although he naturally already knew that.

"Oh yes ! Really !" she echoed with naivety.

"Then I'd better go to the common room, right ?" he added, laughing nervously and wishing Starfire had not come… right this moment !

"It would be more logical, yes !"

"Hum… okay then…"

He therefore made three and a quarter steps towards the corridor leading back to the common room… but stopped right in his tracks !

"Oh, I just forgot something in my room !" he spoke up, snapping his fingers as he faked remembering. "I'll come round in a few minutes, okay ?"

"Ah, alright then. It is okay, yes. I shall fly back to Friend Raven and let her know you are looking for her."

For the second time that afternoon, he was close to wetting his pants !

"NO !" he screamed, and when he saw the mix of surprise and slight fear appear on her features, he continued, more calmly : "Uh, I mean, no ! Please don't tell her ! I… uh, want it to be a surprise ! She mustn't know I'm looking for her, otherwise it won't be a surprise anymore, will it ? You understand, right ?"

"Oh yes, now I do understand all of it. So I do not let her know anything, that is it ?"

"Yeah, exactly. You don't say anything." He quickly thought it over again and added : "In fact, on second thought, it would be better to NOT talk to her… _at all_ ! She's meditating after all, so…"

"Ah, hum… but what about _after_ her meditation ? I can talk to her after."

"No no no !" And seeing her puzzled look, he knew he would have to clarify : "I mean, eh eh, you… you know how Raven is always so moody and all, right ?"

Starfire rubbed her left arm, somewhat uneasy, as she recalled Raven's regular refusal to chat with her about marshmallows, the mall of shopping or the next romantic comedy.

"Yes, I do know that. It is true that she is not often willing to do the chatting with me." Sigh. "It is okay, I shall not disturb her then…"

"Great ! Uh, I mean… thank you ! She will appreciate it, I know ! And now, I gotta go, so see you in a few !"

And with that he hurried in direction of his room.

But after he was out of sight, he turned into a fly and, reaching for the ceiling, he flew right under it, back to his previous spot, just in time to see the Tamaranean turn the corner, on her way to the common room.

He quickly morphed back to human and, dreading either her return or Raven's arrival – although he recalled that Cy would warn him through the T-comm' -, he hurried to enter the empath's room.

Then he switched the light on and felt a shiver run down his back as he took a look around.

 _Gee, Rae should really go visit some interior designer, coz her room's decoration is… brrrr, way too creepy ! You'd think you have entered a haunted castle or you're staring at one of the decorations of the ghost train ! Bah, anyway, I gotta hurry up if wanna avoid…_

He kept remembering what he had said about his butt and the confetti.

Quickly walking to the gothic bookcase, he swiftly read the titles until his eyes fell on " _ANCIENT SPELLS_ ".

He grabbed it and opened it.

 _Okay, so Cyborg said the bet was that I should read whatever spell in her book and then leave the room… It's not_ **that** _terrible ! Or rather, it doesn't SEEM that terrible at first… but what if the spell I read has really bad consequences ? What if it frees demons ?_

He suddenly wasn't so sure he wanted to carry the bet to its conclusion, after all…

Now that he thought of it, he could still leave without reading any spell and claim to Cyborg that he actually had read one. His buddy wouldn't know he was lying. And how could he find out if the apparently-read spell had had any effect at all ? It could well be that its effect couldn't be seen… Yes, Cyborg could pretty much buy it, and that way, he himself wouldn't be in trouble.

But then another thought popped up : wouldn't that make him a coward ? A chicken, who "didn't dare to" ? And all that for just a few words to read ?

 _I'm NOT a chicken ! I can be braver than anybody in that team ! And if something bad happens… well, Raven will certainly be able to fix it : she's a very powerful wizard after all, so she will probably find a way to cancel the spell ! So, why worry so much ? Go ahead and do it, you pudding-head !_

And now that he felt comforted, now that he recalled that he could be more courageous than all those meat-eaters, he proceeded to… do something reckless, if not stupid !

He turned two pages, looking for words that would sound inspiring to him… even if it was written in Latin and that he knew zilch about that ancient language… and settled for a sentence that looked nice to him… although, again, he didn't understand any of it !

" _ **Volo ista evanuerint alio mundo apparent**_ _**!**_ " **("** _ **I want these objects to vanish and reappear in another world !**_ **")**

But just as he had finished reading and a black sphere was rising from the page…

…that's when there was a sound signal on his T-communicator…

… and the confetti metaphor immediately resurfaced in his mind as fear invaded him in a flash !

The surprise he felt at the sound made him jolt… right when a black flash of lightning was leaving the dark sphere to strike at something in the room !

This destabilized the spell book, and caused the trajectory of the flash of lightning to be modified, making it strike elsewhere than initially targeted.

Beast Boy quickly closed the book and put it back in its place, then gave a rapid look at the approximate location where the flash of lightning had ended its course, which was near the bookcase.

Nothing seemed to be destroyed.

He naturally didn't grant more than a few seconds for that inspection and rather hurried to switch off the light and transform into a green fly that soon was resting right above the room's door.

Saving butt first, verifying consequences later.

And when the door opened to let the floating empath in, the fly was prompt enough to exit unnoticed.

If that wasn't a close one… what on Earth was, eh ?

The meditation adept lay down her bed and closed her eyes, smiling.

There were days on which everything went just **that** smooth.

On which things interlocked most harmoniously.

On which, as a result, one's level of inner peace was significantly high.

It was currently the case of the half-demon peacefully resting on her bed : her inner peace was really high on that day.

 _I really feel so fine today. It's too seldom that I experience such welfare. Not even Beast Boy managed to break my focus. Well, it's actually because I saw him so briefly that he did not get the chance to bother me ! I guess I should "miss him" more often… although "miss him" has a totally different meaning here !_

She smiled to herself for that improvised semantic ambiguity.

She never _missed_ him, in a sense, but she was all too glad to _miss_ him for a while, in another sense.

Raven just loved words with several meanings, and how they could give such interesting "plays on significance"…

She sighed contentedly.

The Tower was so calm on that day : no exuberant squeals from Starfire, no loud videogames spreading their din beyond the doors of the common room…

Even Robin had decided to put himself in 'OFF' mode and give his endless paranoid examinations of criminal files a well-deserved break… before probably resuming them the very next day ! (their leader was THE epitome of obsession… as (regrettably) simple as that !)

So peaceful…

She probably could have meditated more, like a couple of hours, but she dreaded to tempt fate doing so. Like, she would postpone the end of her meditation session, and when she had begun her "extra-time" of inner peace… that would be _precisely_ when a certain pair of immature killjoys – well, immature… for at least _**one**_ of them ! – would rush to the TV and soon turn up the volume of their latest silly videogame, forcing her (and probably Robin) to leave on the spot.

But those two had been unusually quite that day.

 _I wonder why they're so discreet today. What can they be up to ?_

Then it hit her.

She opened her eyes, no longer feeling at peace.

If some regular loudmouthed teenagers all of a sudden turned silent and were hardly ever to be seen on a certain day, that could pretty much mean that…

… _they're up to something !_

Of course ! It had to be that ! They were plotting something, and for their little plan to succeed, they needed to draw as little attention on them as possible !

Yes, very likely ! **Most** likely, even !

And the next question was…

 _What are they scheming ? And who does it involve ?_

Knowing their pranking habits, it could well be a joke on Robin. They had a soft spot for their leader when it came down to pull a prank on one of their teammates.

It could also be Starfire, although she didn't recall the red-haired alien being victim of their didos.

But now what if…

What if the target of their little monkeyshine was _herself_ ?

She had difficulties imagining her two playful friends being daring enough to venture in a practical joke… at **her** expense !

No, that sounded unlikely.

So, if they indeed were up to something, it probably was targeting Robin.

Yes, certainly so.

She relaxed again, leaving the little bit of tension leave her body just like it had invaded her, and began wondering what she could do now, after that hour of meditation.

And an idea soon surfaced inside her mind.

 _Yes, why not ? And unless he has something else to do, I'm sure he will agree._

Pleased with her decision, she got up and reached her small table.

Her eyes lowered… and widened !

 _But what…?_

She was goggling as she stared on at the same spot, trying to figure out about the unexpected change.

She pondered the situation, appealing to her memory : had she recently changed their location ?

Her much focused thinking made her conclude that she hadn't, and that there in fact was no good reason for shifting these things.

But then…

Where were they ?

And who would have moved them ?

She certainly hadn't a clue for the first answer… but as for the second one, she did, and pretty soon, actually !

Surprise left her face, replaced by anger.

Her eyebrows, which were pointing to the ceiling a few seconds earlier, were now directed at the floor.

And there seemed to be an evil glint in her purple irises, while her jaw contracted and her hands got curled into fists.

 _I thought they wouldn't dare… yet I can now see I was wrong ! They DID dare after all ! I'm going to chastise them for good before the end of the week !_

She focused her empathic sense, but at first didn't felt the boys' energies. That could mean only one thing : that they had left the Tower.

So she put her hood up and teleported to the roof.

Once up there, she augmented the scope of her empathic ability, and soon she was pinpointing their inner signatures, further away.

In no time had she vanished from her spot.

"You really think it happened in her room ?" questioned Cyborg as they were leaving the seaside and heading to the building area, towards the city.

"Dude, I'm sure of nothing. I just read that strange sentence written in German or Italian or i-don't-know-what, there was a black flash of lightning, it landed somewhere near the bookcase, I checked but didn't notice anything broken. And that's about it. But even if my eyes didn't pick anything, _**her**_ eyes may very well ! That's why I deem it preferable to stay away from the Tower until… hum, until… errrr, until… at least this evening."

"Man, you look really on the alert !" teased the half-robot. "You've been turning around many times to watch the Tower, as if you thought she would come flying from there… or appear by our side, just like that !"

Beast Boy's eyes suddenly widened and he stopped dead in his tracks, staring at a precise spot on the side.

His friend also came to a halt and turned around to take a look his green pal.

"Oh, come on, don't be that afraid ! 'twas just a joke !" the muscular teenager continued, still in a joking mood, without taking a close look at his buddy's facial expression.

But when he actually did, and noticed the shapeshifter's stare, he naturally followed the direction…

…and felt his temperature briskly sink !

Raven was standing close by, watching them from under her hood.

And her gaze didn't look too friendly.

"What were you saying about someone appearing by your sides, "just like that" ? Did you imply it was improbable ?" she asked in a cold voice.

"Uh… hum… hi, Rae !" Cyborg stuttered, sweatdropping.

She didn't reply and merely fixed her angry eyes on them, watching each of them in turn, silently.

"What… what are you doing here ?" the Titan Tech asked with the greatest unease he had ever felt.

"You know what I'm doing here. So where are they ?" she dryly replied.

"Where… where is what ?"

"You know perfectly what. So answer my question quickly and spare us a waste of time… and an anger rise ! I'm already cross enough against you two, so don't push it…"

"I don't know what… what you're looking for…" the usually fearless boy said with visible dread, and then quickly glanced at his green friend, hoping that _**he**_ could answer.

The changeling was petrified and felt that his vocal folds weren't willing to cooperate right now.

"BB ?" Cy spoke up, almost desperately.

And then, the morpher knew he HAD to reply… or else things would **really** take a bad bad turn ! (it already was bad enough, come to think of it…)

He swallowed his saliva, his green eyes having noticed the purple ones set firmly ones on him, waiting for an answer… having noticed them BUT trying hard to avoid them !

"Hum… what disappeared exactly ?" he wanted to know… because he sincerely ignored _what_ had disappeared… in fact, he wasn't even aware that something _**had**_ vanished in the first place !

She floated over to him, her frown intensifying, her eyes narrowing at him.

"Listen to me, Pest Boy ! You'd better not play innocent with me… or else, there'll be a brand new colour for purée : green ! And people will wonder what green purée is doing there, on the sidewalk. So if I were you, I'd spit it out and avoid myself more trouble… Fair warning."

"Raven… I swear on my honour that I ignore what disappeared in your room !" he looked her straight in the eyes, to convince her he was being honest with her.

But her reaction took him by surprise : her eyes opened wider !

He didn't understand why exactly she was reacting that way… until she explained and made him realize his mistake !

"In my room ? But _how_ do you know it was in my room ? I didn't precise the location, I only asked you where they are now. So if you know it was in my room… then it means you're the one who did it !"

He sighed, knowing it was lost. Needless try to hide anything now.

"Okay, I guess I've got no other choice than tell the whole truth… So, hum, I had lost a bet and the forfeit was to go in your room and read whatever sentence from one of your books. That's what I did. A black flash of lightning struck from your book, and landed somewhere near the bookcase. I couldn't find what it had done and hurried to leave afterwards. That's all I know. So I REALLY ignore what disappeared inside your room."

She didn't reply immediately, using her magic abilities to probe his mind and find out if he was hiding anything. But she found out he wasn't.

Yet she still was fuming.

"How could you read just any sentence from a random book ? Without even knowing what it meant ? For all I know, it could have freed a demon or cast a spell on someone aimlessly. That was totally reckless of you, completely thoughtless… but that thoughtlessness honestly doesn't surprise me, coming from… you. Yet it was really dangerous ! How could you know what reading that random sentence could unleash ? Did you think about consequences at all ? Or you just acted without using your brain, like you are used to ?"

Her livid stare demanded an answer, so he couldn't skip it. Not this time.

"Hum… I thought that… that you were such a powerful magician… that you always found the right spell for the right problem… I thought that could always master and beat any enemy, so that if I accidentally freed a demon, you would be able to destroy it through magic…"

He said all that in a tiny, ashamed voice, avoiding her mad stare half of the time.

"So YOU make the really big blunder and ME, the "powerful magician", I have to come after to "clean up your mess" ? That's it ?"

She wasn't shouting… but she wouldn't have needed to raise her voice much more to do so.

Beast Boy looked at the ground, sheepish as could be.

"I'm really sorry, Raven. It was stupid, I know… I thought it wasn't that big a deal to do it, but it could have become really serious. It was a stupid bet anyway…"

"A stupid… _bet_ ?" she repeated, emphasizing on the last word.

And her eyes instantly turned to Cyborg, giving him a deep frown.

"Hum… eh eh… well…" He was playing with his two forefingers, making them touch each other several times, the typical gesture of embarrassment. "Yeah, it… (cough cough) it was my idea… and… hum.. it was pretty foolish indeed, I admit ! Sorry as well, Rae ! I've been a real bonehead on that one !"

After visually sending him daggers, she let out a long sigh, her frown diminishing.

"You're a bit more mature than him, Cyborg… but not _that_ more !"

A "heavy" silence slowly went by.

"And how will I find the missing pieces now ?" she mumbled, more to herself than to them.

They both wondered what she was referring to, but didn't dare to ask.

"I never, ever want you two to put even a toe past my threshold ! Understood ?"

They both gulped and nodded.

"Anyway, I will put a magical barrier in front of my door when I exit from my room. That way, _**NOBODY**_ will ever be able to come in again !"

She gave a quick, menacing look at both.

"You're really lucky I'm in a good day, otherwise I would cast you in an alternate dimension, where you'd be boiling in some demon lord's cauldron. But you'd better **avoid** tricking me or touch my belongings in the future. Fair warning."

And before they could even react to that, she was gone in a swirl of black, leaving them pretty ashamed of themselves… and wondering _what_ exactly had disappeared at her's…

Raven reappeared inside her room and slowly walked to her table.

She was tempted to let herself collapse on the chair, as she was a bit tired from recent events, yet she managed to sit normally.

Then her eyes fell on the chessboard, which was exceptionally half-occupied, and they focused exclusively on the side of the white chess pieces…

… which was _empty_ !

 **Alright, that's it for first chapter.**

 **Hope it was good enough for ya, and that you'll continue reading this (especially ya, Ana, dear dedicatee ! ;D)**

 **I tried to put humor here and there, and hopefully it didn't come out as 'cheap' or 'poor'… I do have a lot of humor in real life, but writing a comic story… that's another kettle of fish, as they say (I also found : "a whole different ballgame", but I dunno which one is most commonly used…).**

 **I'm gonna try to update as soon as possible, but I've got another ongoing story on FF called INLAND EMPIRE, written in collaboration with SkyChild101, so if I am to continue that other one, this current fiction will be accordingly delayed… for which I apologized in anticipation ! -_-***

 **Thanxxxx a lot 4 your patience, 4 any favoriting or following my story (or myself as author), and foremost 4 any REVIEWS ! Nothing pleases me as much as feedback ! :D**

 **Have a smashing day, Folxxxx, and may you all be safe !**

 **Peace, Love, Ecstasy !**

 **:Dxx**


	3. You (rock) ROOK my world !

**Hey there Folxxxx !**

 **How ya doin' ? Hope you're all as fine as gold, and that studies aren't tiring ya down…**

 **I know how life can be such a … well, ya catch my drift, don't ya ? ;)**

 **Okay, so B4 we actually begin, here's a bit of explanation regarding the rating of this story and the title of the previous chappy (how it is presented, in fact).**

 **Rating : I had intended to make it a K+ story, yet there will be coarseness in one of the chapter, therefore does this asks for a T rating, even if it's for just a few "bad words". I have written only one K+ story UTN, and that's : GOODBYE EARTH, adapted from the final episode of Monster Buster Club. The rest of my fic's is mainly T and a couple of M (with two other M on another account).**

 **Last's title presentation : the word 'GAME' is underlined in the parentheses… but I had actually written it strikethrough in the Word doc ! It was crossed out in order to imply that the usual word 'game' in 'the name of the game' was replaced by 'forfeit' in order to fit this chapter's content. But dear FanFiction lowered the strikethrough and placed it underneath the word, making it appear underlined. So yeah… I just hate it how this website modifies the appearance of your work !**

 **But it's still awesome to be on here, no matter the lil' technical worries. I'm actually celebrating my 4** **th** **year as a publisher on here, since my first story was out on December 5** **th** **, 2011. So cheers to ya all ! (raise my glass to you guys)**

 **Right, time to STFU and write that on !**

 **N'JOY !**

 **=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=) "YOU (ROCK) ROOK MY WORLD" (=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=**

Sloth let out a loooooong yaaaaaaaawn, her mouth opening so wide that the jaw seemed about to unhinge.

She was floating through her domain, because walking was soooooo exhausting to her. And then again, why bother using your legs when you could simply let your body move by itself ? It was so much more relaxing that way…

She finished the food she had in hand – a chocolate ice-cream – and wiped her sticky hands on her cloak (she hardly ever ate something without getting some on her hands… or on her leotard, under her chin !)

And concluded it by rubbing her mouth on the brown fabric as well, not caring to create a napkin for that purpose : it required magic, and a few words too for the spell… while she could spare herself these two by simply using her cloak as a giant napkin !

 _As simple as that_ , Sloth always thought when she found a lazier way to do things – she would think of it as a "more practical way", not a "lazier" one. Sloth and her way with words…

Then she smiled while patting her belly.

 _And now, a good catnap in the sun to digest all that sweetness…_

There used to be no sun in Nevermore, but some of the emoticlones had begged their Master for one, and therefore had Raven accepted to create a sun for them all.

The brown-clad female belched pretty loudly, finding it too demanding to put her hand over her mouth to muffle the burp. And that was one of the few deplorable attitudes she shared with Rude, the emoticlone who specialized in uncouthness and regularly belched, farted, picked her nose and such other rude elements of poor conduct.

Sloth turned left after the copse – which was growing in all directions, chaotic as could be, as a result of the laziest emotion to use her magic to prune it a bit – and…

… made the unthinkable effort to goggle !

There, over her hammock… a large shadow !

Her stare rose and met… a large stone tower, set really close to her favourite dozing place !

"…the hell ?" she blurted out to herself, as usual using an incomplete sentence, for sentence-building was suuuuuuuuuch a demanding task, you know…

She approached the large mineral cylinder and slowly walked around it, looking for an opening of some sort… yet, quite unexpectedly, there wasn't any. It was a tower, but without access to its top.

"Beats me…" muttered the lazy female.

Then she looked again over at her hammock, and the shadow blocking out the sun, and crossing her arms, she added, louder : "Damn tower !"

"Excuse me ?!"

The voice startled Sloth, who looked up… and goggled again !

Two eyes were staring at her… and they were embedded in the tower !

"No way…!" slowly uttered the embodiment of Raven's slackness as she gazed intensely at those two elements of life lost in the inert mass, an impossible combination to her.

"Yes way !" replied the cylinder, a mouth actually hidden below the eyes. "And so, didn't you call me 'damn tower' short before ?"

"That's just… crazy…" continued the emoticlone, still lost in her bewilderment, and therefore not paying enough attention to the question asked.

"Yes, yes, it's crazy, I concede it. Now would you please answer my question ?"

"Uh ? A question ?"

The half-living thing sighed.

"It was this one : didn't-you-call-me-'damn tower'-short-before ?"

"Ah… uh… yes…"

"Well, you're rude, you know !"

"Nope, I'm not Rude, I'm Sloth."

Perplexity appeared in the large eyes above.

"What ? What do you mean ?"

"Y'called me Rude. Well I'm not. Name's Sloth."

Her interlocutor seemed to understand always less and less.

"Are you saying that… YOUR name is Sloth ?"

"Yup."

"Strange name…"

"Whateva'…"

The large eyes expressed upset.

"You're not exactly talkative…"

"Too tiring to talk…"

"…and not excessively polite neither…"

Sloth yawned wide.

"Yes, just like I was saying…" muttered the great cylinder.

"Ya gettin' a tad annoying, Tower…"

"I'm NOT a tower, but a rook !"

Sloth raise an eyebrow.

"Eh ? Not a tower ? Ya on LSD or what ?"

This time, the… _rook_ glared for good at the lazy emotion.

"Look, I may look _like_ a tower, but I'm in fact a rook. That's how is called a tower in the chess game. And I come from a chess game, so I'm a **rook** ! Do you understand or not ?"

Sloth was starting to get bored, slowly but surely.

"Okay, okay. Rook. Got it." she said, hands raised in the typical gesture of appeasement.

The chess piece then looked at its surroundings and frowned.

"This being said… where exactly am I ?"

"In my domain" Sloth said, visibly pouting. "And right in front of my favourite sleeping place, in fact…"

"Favourite sleeping place ?" echoed the newcomer.

Sloth decided to spare herself a few words, and therefore a few efforts, by merely pointing at the hammock.

To her surprise, the rook pivoted slowly from ninety degrees, a right angle movement enabling it to spot the improvised "bed".

"Hum… _that's_ your favourite sleeping place ?!"

The tone of the large cylinder expressed obvious disbelief.

Or was it rather a bit of scorn for the hammock, as being a rather poor place to sleep in ?

Whatever it was that stemmed from the tone of the rook, it sure displeased Sloth.

"What ?! Sumthin' wrong with m' hammock ?!" she muttered, crossing her arms, which already cost her a lot in terms of effort... that and just being angry, which indeed supposed a certain expenditure of energy.

The rook cleared her throat.

"Well… hum… no no, nothing, all things considered !"

The brown-cloaked girl sighed.

That conversation was slowly but surely becoming exhausting.

"Look, Tow… erm… _ROOK_ , I mean no impoliteness, but I kinda wanna lie down in there and have a good afternoon nap, so… if ya'd just… y'know… move over…"

The large stone being raised an eyebrow.

"A tad rude indeed…" it muttered, but her vis-à-vis still heard it.

"Heeeey ! Told ya I'm not Rude, but Sloth !"

The rook glared.

"Yes, you already told me so. But what does 'rude' have to do with your name 'Sloth' anyway ? What does 'I'm not rude, but Sloth' mean ?"

"Well, since I'm Sloth, I'm not Rude. Logical, uh ?"

The rook indeed understood always less and less of all this.

"And why couldn't you, Sloth, be rude ? Are you supposed to be polite ?" it asked.

"I can't be Rude because Rude is my sister, and I'm Sloth. Rude is Rude, and Sloth is Sloth. I can't be another person, can I ?"

In that almost absurd sentence, the stone cylinder managed to grasp some info that would (finally) lead it to understanding.

"Rude is your… sister ? What do you mean ?"

"Well, yeah, she's my sis'. And Rude is her name. Like mine is Sloth. Get it ? So I'm not Rude but Sloth. So when you say I'm Rude…"

Both were gradually developing some headache from all this.

"I didn't say you were Rude… but that you were rude, as in "impolite", "disrespectful" ! It wasn't your sister's name but the adjective 'rude' !"

Sloth was massaging her temples.

"Okay, okay, got it. Got it ! Jeez, ya makin' my head swell…"

"Sloth… Rude… you really have strange names round here…"

"Well, thanks for that…" sarcastically replied the lazy teen. "Now, can I sleep in my hammock, coz ya really exhausted me with all that babbling. Not fond of long speeches, and ya made me talk so much… so now lemme sleep a bit…"

"I exhausted you ?! Ah, that one is funny ! Look who's talking !"

Sloth put her hand to her forehead and frowned.

"Can-I-sleep ?" she said, singling out every word for emphasis's sake.

"But please do and quit complaining !" replied her interlocutor.

"You're disturbing me !" said Sloth louder.

"Your hammock is just there, so just lie in it and be quiet !" the rook answered, also somewhat louder.

Tension was building up.

Sloth inhaled slowly and rubbed her forehead, wondering how the hell she would get to sleep even for five minutes that afternoon.

"See that shadow, on my hammock ?" she said, contracting her jaw while pointing at said shadow, both being sooooo demanding to her in terms of efforts.

"I do." admitted the rook. "But what does… uh, wait… is it just because you can't sleep in the SUN that you're making all that fuss ?!"

The brown-clad emoticlone rolled her eyes to the sky before releasing a long, heavy sigh.

"Thank Azarath, y'finally got it !"

"And so, you want me away from this spot so you can benefit from the sun while you're lazing in that hammock ?"

"At last you understood… so much babbling to get here… now _that_ was tiring !"

Sloth was relieved because she knew that the killjoy standing there would soon be gone and she therefore would have all the time in the world to lounge in the sweet heat of Nevermore's recent sun.

But it wasn't quite over, as a matter of fact…

"I would be glad to "free the path", but the thing is… I alas can't move on my own !" announced the large stone being.

Sloth's eyes widened again… for at least the third or fourth time that day !

"Y'kiddin' me, right ? Ya came here, so ya must be able to leave !"

"In fact, I didn't get here by myself. I was teleported here. And I can't leave by my own means : I must be teleported back to where I come from !"

The grey-skinned girl felt herself sweatdrop.

 _Holy gosh, we'll never see the end of this sh… hum, of this_ bummer _!_

"Wait, so now ya sayin' ya didn't get here by yourself but got… _teleported_ here ? 'tis just the craziest thing ever !"

The rook would have shrugged if it had had shoulders… but things being what they were…

"I know, right !"

"And who teleported you here ?"

"I don't know, I didn't see anything, but if I catch that moron… It wouldn't surprise me if it were that green bonehead !"

Sloth smirked.

"Actually, for once, I agree with ya : he IS a bonehead ! And yeah, might be him…"

"So… any idea how I can get teleported back to the chessboard ?" asked the rook, longing to meet up with the other chess pieces again.

The emoticlone nodded.

"I can use my powers to do so. Just tell me where the chessboard is located, so I can focus on it."

"It's the one in Raven's room."

Sloth goggled once more, and if she kept doing this that day, she might _**really**_ get used to it…

"You are one of the chess pieces belonging to Master ?"

Time for the addressee to goggle.

"Master ?"

Sloth rolled her eyes again.

"Hum… _Raven_ , if ya prefer. Y' belong to her chessboard ?"

"Ah ! Master is Raven ! Okaaaaaaayyyyy… Anyway, yes, I do ! So can you send me back there ?"

"Yup. In fact, I'm gonna _hurry_ to do so. Lemme focus now."

And Sloth stretched out her arms in direction of the large stone cylinder, her eyes closed, her magical sense focused on the chessboard in Raven's room… which was currently deprived of half its content.

An intense light surrounded the rook, wrapping the chess piece in its dazzling embrace.

Sloth then pronounced a short sequence of words…

… the light intensified…

… then it died down…

… and gone was the rook !

The laziest of all emotions reopened her eyes and sighed heavily as she spotted the now sunbathed hammock.

She quickly floated to it and collapsed inside, smiling.

Then she turned her head towards the camera, looking straight into the lens, and said :

"And now, dear readers (yawn), after suuuuuuuch an exhausting discussion and suuuuuuuch a terrible amount of energy I used (yawn), I badly need to sleep for at least three full days (yawn). So the first one in the audience making some noise will be sent straight to hell, okidoki ? (yawn) Now just wait for next chapter silently and lemme sleep my butt off… (long yawn) I really need to stop talking now… (longer yawn)"

And with that said, she started the longest nap of her "lazystory"…

 **=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=)=) …. (=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=(=**

 **Now how was that ? Not too bad, hopefully. And so, one chess piece's now back where it belongs ! The great "fixing-it-all" has started, fingers X it'll B successful !**

 **Oh, and thanxxxx a bunch to SKYCHILD101 for favoriting, following and reviewing "her" story, in the sense that it's dedicated to her ! Glad ya like this new one as well, Ana ! But then again… what DON'T you like from me, eh ? XD**

 **May God help you all Folxxxx in your everyday hardships and maintain your happiness level ! Oh, and a Happy New Year to ya all, in advance ! Hopefully 2016 will be better than 2015…**

 **Take care !**

 **Peace, Love, Ecstasy !**

 **:Dxx**


	4. It's only (rock) ROOK 'n' roll !

**Hey there, all the young dudes !**

 **This apostrophe above is a wink to my dear David Bowie, who passed away a month ago : he had indeed written a song called ALL THE YOUNG DUDES, back in the '70… Oh, guys, how I'm going to miss the Thin White Duke, Ziggy Stardust, Halloween Jack, Major Tom, Nathan Adler and, lately, Lazarus ! Bowie was one of those rare music geniuses, and he's gonna be missed by countless people across the globe… Rest In Bliss, David Robert Jones (1947-2016)… :'(**

 **On another note, I do hope you're doing good, and that your year started well. Studies, health, mood, love, friendship… hope all of these are fine for ya ! :D**

 **Okay, so this chapter will be labeled "PARENTAL ADVISORY - EXPLICIT CONTENT" coz it'll include its fair share of rude words. Wonder who will be cussing ? Oh, I'm sure you've got an idea… but just read on to find out if you're correct ! ^^**

 **So, here's for ya all… another chapter on the way !**

 **Ready ?**

 **Set…**

 **N'JOY !**

 **=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:= IT'S ONLY (ROCK) ROOK 'N' ROLL ! :=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:**

 _Mmmmmmh… that stuff is so damn good ! Totally wicked !_

That was what the orange-cloaked female thought as she pigged out, taking large bites of her cheeseburger which she wolfed down after hardly chewing it, and resumed opening a wide, wide mouth to grab an even bigger portion of the thick sandwich.

She didn't forget to regularly pick up a handful of fries, which she stuffed her mouth with, again chewing little of it, and washed it down with a long sip of Coke.

And about the salsa sometimes dripping from the edge of the cheeseburger and staining her leotard… bah, nevermind, eh ! It could be wiped away with the cloak, right ?

That carelessness while eating was a common point between Sloth and Rude, but there were different causes : the first one used her cloak instead of a napkin simply out of laziness – she didn't felt like making a single effort when the latter could be avoided, and so why fetch something appropriate to wipe out your mouth when you had your clothes for that purpose…? – while the second one did it out of real laxity, i.e. because she didn't give a… hum, a _damn_ about it ! Getting dirty wasn't a problem for Rude : she just didn't mind.

Once the slack girl had used the orange cloth to rub her mouth _**and**_ chin – because salsa had been dripping from her lower lip down to the chin… - , she swallowed another large quantity of cola… then let out one the loudest belches she had ever produced !

Finally, she got up and, as usual, let the dirty wrapping on the ground, not caring the slightest about discarding them. Again, her reluctance at cleaning was a trait she shared with Sloth, but she didn't do it out of utter carelessness, while Sloth didn't do it out of idleness.

She flew in direction of the hill behind which she kept her small fridge, that Raven had allowed her to keep in order to store her junk food, and as she did so, she used her pinkie to rub the inside of her ear, then wiping cerumen on her cloak again… before using the very same, dirty finger to clean out her teeth, very basically though.

 _After that burger, a choc' Sundae will be damn good ! Jeez, I feel like drooling simply thinking of it…_

She flew around the copse behind which her fridge was located and… stopped right on the spot, googling !

Then, after quite a moment, her mouth opened slowly to let out only three words.

"What. The. FUCK ?"

… the last word being uttered louder… and somewhat aggressively !

In front of her was a huge cylindrical stone structure that she had never seen there…

… and, right under its edge, she saw a white flat thing which, she quickly realized, was nothing else than a part of her fridge, which had been crushed.

But _**HOW**_ on Earth had it been crushed by that stone construction ? It would have been possible only if that thing had somehow _landed_ on the fridge, like, for instance, if it had fallen from the sky.

And everybody knows large stone structures do not fall from the sky…

The Orange Cloak rushed to the large cylinder and examined it with glaring eyes.

"What's this fucking stuff doing in my domain ? And how the hell did that bloody thing crush my fridge ?" she yelled, as if she was asking it to someone else who had witnessed the event leading to the destruction of her precious fridge.

And that's when, quite unexpectedly, a pair of great eyes opened in the middle of the construction.

"Will you just stop swearing like that, and insult me in the process ?" said the stone cylinder.

If the girl's eyes had widened considerably shortly before, when she had discovered the large intruder, it was little compared to her current goggling : this time, it seemed that her eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets !

"Okay, now that's damn weird : that bloody thing actually TALKS ?!" she said, actually to herself, but still heard by the quite peculiar object standing tall in front of her.

"Will you stop that ?! Quit insulting me !" thundered the offended creature.

Once she had gotten over it, and accepted the fact that the huge stone building was indeed **talking** , she decided to hold that strange being accountable for both destroying her fridge and invading her domain.

"Hey, you're there, complaining like hell, but maybe ya forgettin' a lil' something : you're in my domain, eh, and ya got nothing to do here ! And how d'ya come here, anyway, uh ?"

Her interlocutor naturally didn't appreciate her tone… not a bit !

"You should watch your expressing yourself, young girl, as you're about to make me lose my temper. And as for the reason of my presence here, just know that I _didn't choose_ to enter your domain : I was teleported from the Chessboard to this place, so if I'm here right now, I honestly can't help it !"

Rude's eyes lit up, catching a particular word on the fly.

"Chessboard ? Whaddya mean with that chessboard ?" she asked, scratching her head in a not-too-discrete manner.

"In case you didn't notice, I am one of the Rooks from Raven's chess game. I was on the Chessboard, as usual… and the next moment, I appeared in here, as if nothing. So now, you know who I am. Maybe you could introduce yourself too…"

Rude was about to answer when she unexpectedly let out a pretty audible fart.

"Aaaaah, that was just what was needed !" she sighed with satisfaction, sniffing the air to pick up the odour she had just "created"…

"Eeeewww, you're… you're so gross !" said the chess piece with obvious disgust.

"Eh, I'm Rude, you know !" boasted the emoticlone.

That surprised the Rook, who had never met someone bragging about his/her impoliteness.

"And you're proud of it ! Proud of behaving coarsely ! Proud of being rude !" exclaimed the shocked stone building.

" 'course I'm bloody proud of being Rude ! Why shouldn't I be ?" replied the orange-clad female with a grin.

"There's no point in being proud to be rude ! You don't make sense at all !"

"But that's who I am, after all ! You're proud of being Tower…"

" **Rook** !"

"Yeah yeah, **Rook** , or whatever your real name is, and me I'm proud of being Rude, coz that's who I am …"

"I understand always less of this… You're really bizarre…"

Rude's smile vanished, replaced by a frown.

"Look here, silly pot. I'm NOT bizarre, okay ? Is it that difficult to get it ? Since my name is Rude, of course I'm proud to be Rude ? Nothing fucking difficult to understand, or what ?"

The chess piece glared pretty hard at the frail grey being talking to her in such a manner.

"Will you just watch your mouth and stop cursing ? And do NOT call me 'silly pot' just because I don't understand your obscure utterances ! You didn't make it clear enough for me to get it !"

Rude was really about to get fed up with it all.

"I cannot watch my mouth, goddammit ! My eyes are here, so how could I possibly watch my mouth when it's right under my eyes, where I _can't_ see it ?! And I'm not obscure or whatever : I said that since my name was Rude, I was therefore proud of being Rude ! Of being who I am !"

This time, the Rook focused more on the content of the other's speech… and singled out the relevant information !

"Wait a second here ! Your name is… Rude ?!"

The emoticlone made a face as well as an exaggerate gesture of impatience with her arms.

"YES ! FOR GOD'S SAKE : Y-E-S ! You finally got it !" exclaimed the orange-clad female as she mockingly clapped her hands, earning a glare from her vis-à-vis. "So you're making a reproach of my being Rude, while I'm proud of my name, pleased of being who I am : Rude ! Coz it's after all my identity : Rude ! Got it all now or what ?!"

The girl's tone, especially when she said 'You finally got it !' and 'Got it all now or what ?!', wasn't respectful, not in the least, but this time again, the chess piece concentrated on the _content_ of the message rather then its form, therefore relegating the tactless tone to a position of secondary importance and rather focusing on what was actually said to her.

"So your name is Rude. Well, I can't deny that it fits you at best, given your insolent behaviour and talking !"

"Sure it does ! I mean, why the fuck do ya think I got called that way ? Coz I was bloody rude all the time ! I'm the "bad guy" of the gang !"

Then something tickled her memory, and she corrected her previous statement :

"Well… _**one**_ of the two bad guys of the gang, at least !"

The Rook felt in unfamiliar environment again.

"What gang are you talking about ? And who are these two bad guys you're mentioning ? You and somebody else ?"

On this occasion, Rude appeared less irritated by her interlocutor's incomprehension, since it occurred to her that the Rook after all didn't know of the rest of the emoticlones.

"Hum… this time, I guess I can't blame you for not understanding. I've got seven sisters, and the gang I was mentioning is our group of eight sisters. And the bad guys… uh, bad **girls** of that gang are me and "Four Eyes"… hum, I mean, Rage. It's the grumpy one of our group : always damn angry at everything and everyone… She's the biggest bad girl of us two, with her four red eyes ! Me, I'm cooler… but yeah, I can't help cursing and doing all that impolite body stuff, like belch and fart and pick my nose and clean my teeth… all of this in public ! I'm like that and find it fun ! And those who don't like it can go fuck themselves !"

The Rook had listened to all of it with attention.

"Well, one thing is certain : I'm WAY relieved NOT to have a sister like you – or like her ! Gosh, just the thought of it…!"

And she let out a long sigh.

"Christ, am I happy as well not to have you as a sister ! Almost makes me barf to just bloody imagine it…" reacted Rude.

And she let out a long loud belch as a conclusion to her reply.

"God, you're really disgusting and so impertinent…" said the other, frowning.

"Why, thank ya !" playfully retorted the cheeky teen, making a V sign with her fingers.

"And you're even proud of it…" sighed the stone structure, looking revolted.

"Pffff... not so much sentimentality, Tower !" But a death glare made her recall and correct : "Yeah, I know : R-o-o-k ! Anyway, you sound like one of those old farts who get so easily put off and always criticize the young ones… chill a bit, will ya !"

This time, it was a fart that concluded her utterance.

"Speaking of fart…" added a sniggering Rude.

"I'M NOT AN OLD FART ! How can you be so disrespectful all the time ?!" thundered the large cylinder.

"Beeeeh, I'm Rude, y'know…"

"SHUT UP ! You little… little…"

"Go ahead ! Curse a bit ! It won't hurt ! And it'll certainly help you loosen up… I mean, you've got suuuuuuch a poker up your ass !"

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP !"

"Eh eh, why don't ya make me ? Just try crushing me, like you fucking did to my poor fridge…! Ya think ya can, mmmmh ?"

"I CAN'T MOVE, BUT IF I COULD, I WOULD MOVE AND CRUSH YOU, YES ! NOW KEEP IT SHUT OR ELSE -"

"…you'll spank meeeee ?" interrupted Rude, speaking on a pretty provocative tone, a nasty smirk on her lips.

"BUT JUST SHUT THE **FUCK** UP !"

"Ah ! At last you curse ! 'thought ya never would !" exclaimed the impudent teen in a triumphant way, raising both hands at her head's level and shaking them in a manner that basically meant " _Ah ! Finally !_ "

The Rook, realizing she had for the first used foul language, was too preoccupied by her own "slip of the tongue" to react to Rude's offending triumph.

The grey girl started picking her nose and, with the other hand, rubbed her buttock in a quite non-feminine manner.

Then she stared up at the large being and, after putting both hands on her hips, grinned at her.

"I. Hate. You." slowly yet threateningly let out the stone creature.

"Eh eh, for once I'll say 'thank you' instead of 'fuck you'… !" replied Rude, bowing.

"Grrrrrr…. If only I could find a way to return to the Chessboard… and not see your face anymore !"

The emoticlone's eyes lit up.

"Hey, how 'bout I help ya returning to that chessboard ? Like that I'll finally get rid of you as well ! Everybody will be bloody happy ! Isn't that a damn good idea, eh ? Fuck yeah, it is !"

The Rook closed her eyes for a few seconds.

"Oh my God, all that cussing gives me a headache…"

"I don't think stone things can get headaches, y'know…"

"SHUT UP !"

" 'kay, 'kay, just saying, y'know…"

And after farting again, Rude started cleaning her ear with her pinkie again.

The Rook's wide-open glaring eyes would have thrown bolts of lightning at the uncouth female behaving so coarsely, every single minute, should they have been able of it !

"You said you could help me return to the Chessboard… did you actually mean it, or was it another of your immature utterances ?" asked the chess piece.

The emoticlone sniggered.

" 'course I meant it. Whaddya think, uh ? I'm not always… "immature", like ya put it ! I can teleport ya away, back to where ya belong. Like that, Master will have her tow… uh, _rook_ back, you'll be relieved not to see me again, and me too. Everybody will be fucking happy."

The Rook gnashed her teeth at the new cursing word, but she felt indeed eased at the prospect of leaving this place AND this tactless being, down there, and being back to her dear home, with her good chess friends.

"Please send me back to the Chessboard. Please !" begged the stone cylinder.

Rude crossed her arms.

"Sure. Sure. But hum… another lil' swear word for me, maybe ? Before you go ?"

"Please ! Let me back home ! I won't bother you again if you help me !"

But Rude merely smirked at her vis-à-vis.

"Swear word ?"

The Rook felt that her grey tormentor wouldn't do what she had said she would if she herself didn't accept to cuss once again. But after all, if her peace of mind just depended on a simple cursing, why not ? It sure upset the venerable stone structure to be forced to do it again, her who always was so polite… but did she have the choice, when that impolite being there was the only help available in that otherwise desert place ?

"Okay, okay ! GO FUCK YOURSELF ! There, happy ?"

"Hum, I'm not Happy, but Rude… anyway, since you complied with my demand… I'll send ya back ! It was a pleasure meetin' ya, Rook ! Mmmmmh… till next time ?"

And Rude winked at her, chuckling.

"Certainly not ! And it was NOT a pleasure for me ! So, as far as I'm concerned : till NEVER !"

"Ah ah ah ah ah !" guffawed the Orange Cloak, and even her laughter lacked refinement, noisy and disharmonious as could be…

Rude stretched out her arms in direction of the crenel-wearing structure and, after closing her eyes and focusing on the chessboard in Raven's room, recited a short sequence of words.

A bright light appeared around the Rook, wrapping it completely, growing bigger, bigger…

…until it faded away, showing only the flattened down fridge that the large cylinder had crushed when landing on it !

Rude's eyes met the destroyed object that once harboured such delicious junk food… and the orange emoticlone suddenly goggled !

"Hey, wait a minute ! Who's gonna pay for my fridge ? Who's gonna replace it ? Fuck and fuck and fuck ! I'll be starving now ! My poor cheeseburgers… my poor cola…"

Then she turned her face to the sky and, closing her eyes, let her wrath explode.

"Fuuuuuuuckiiiiiiiiiing Rooooooooooook ! I haaaaaaaaaate yooooooouuuuuuuu !"

And then she flew away at the light of speed, hurrying to Sloth's domain, hoping her good friend, her unkempt buddy, her untidy soulmate would have a few ice-creams left…

 **:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:**

 **Cool ! Another chapter done ! This one was crafted quite rapidly, I must say : as soon as I published my last INLAND EMPIRE bunch, last week, I started this one. It went real fast, this time !**

 **I'm pretty pleased with the result. And you ? Are you as well ? This one was longer than the Sloth part. Okay, it's still not that long, compared to my former chapters, in all my other stories, which could be real "mammoths", but I think I said that this story would have shorter chappies.**

 **Okay, time for me to start a new text – not for FF, though, but for a good friend of mine !**

 **I think Ana will review this chapter… but I'd be so happy if others did as well. We'll see, we'll see… but if the story's dedicatee is reading, then it's already great : the main purpose of this fic' is reached ! :D**

 **A nice day to ya all ! Take good care of ya, Folxxxx !**

" **Till next time", like Rude said… and may Bowie's soul always lives on within us all !**

 **Peace, Love, Ecstasy !**

 **:Dxx**


	5. Good (night) KNIGHT, Love !

**Hello, You All !**

 **It's kind of difficult to find time for yourself when your existence is so hectic most of the time, and you just can't do what you want WHEN you want, and it's a real shame, and it frustrates ya… and hell ! You don't always do things when you'd like to… but that's just the way life is, like it or not !**

 **Anyway…**

 **Eh, d'ya guys heard of the Academy Awards' results ? Leo won his first award ! No, not me, folxxxx : Leo DI CAPRIO ! XD After all his nominations, 'twas about time, wasn't it ? He's been one of my fav' actors for years now, and I couldn't wait for him to finally be rewarded for his great career. Man, did he wait for that ! Kudos to Leo – still NOT me, duuuuh ! - and gratitude to the Academy for finally honouring that exceptional actor !**

 **And now… how about starting this new part, eh ?**

 **Let's roll !**

 **Angie, oy !**

 **:_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ : GOOD (NIGHT) KNIGHT, LOVE ! :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :**

Ah, nature !

It's oh so splendid !

It puts your heart at rest, with all those gorgeous landscapes soothing the soul of any of its "contemplators"… (*sound of acoustic guitar playing softly as an auditive background*)

Ah, animals !

They're oh so sweet and interesting to watch !

They trigger your curiosity, fascinate you, sometimes amuse you as you observe them going about their "business"… (*sound of fox slaughtering a mole*)

And guess who was fond of nature and animals ?

Yeah, okay : Happy was, indeed ! But apart from her ? Who else ?

Yup, exactly : LOVE ! You hit the bull's eye, dear reader !

Love just… hum, yeah, _loved_ nature and animals, and took care of both with her signature sweetness. For, after all, while love is a human feeling, nobody said that it is limited to persons, and that you cannot love animals and plants… although in a different way ! (you for example wouldn't hug a sequoia of offer a diamond ring to a female dog… or would you ? ;)

But enough babbling, eh ! Let's come back to the kindest of all emoticlones !

Love was radiant on such a beautiful day, filled with sun, warmth, chirps all such nice things which just _**had**_ to make one happy (yeah, back to Happy, somehow…!)

She was currently gliding through her domain when she spotted something moving over there, at the limit of the flowers-filled meadow.

Curious as she could be – although less than the top-nosy emoticlone that Happy was… -, the purple-clad female veered off to the right and soon arrived at the right location.

A small silhouette ran away – or at least tried to… - but Love acted faster : having encased the fugitive in her black power, she lifted it off the grassy ground and floated it over to her.

"Oh, how cuuuuuute you are !" she said in her sweetest tone as she hugged the small rabbit in her arms and started petting it slowly.

The fluffy creature was obviously trying to escape, yet after a while of being stroked and tenderly whispered to by the most sensitive of all emotions, it decided that it wasn't that bad after all to be held by that curious being standing upwards on her two "paws" and finally got comfortable in the gentle embrace of Raven's mellowest avatar.

"There ! You see, it isn't that terrible being in my arms, is it ? You're soooo soft, it's just incredible ! Better than any stuffed animal, really ! I think I'll show you to Master next time she comes here…"

Love then pondered this idea for a bit and made a wince.

"Although… not being into soft and sweet things like me, Master might be upset about it…"

But her face soon lit up again after a few more seconds.

"Bah, nevermind ! I'll just show it to Happy, and maybe to Timid as well ! I'm sure they'll love it !"

These were indeed those of her sisters she best got along with, and she already had had loads of fun with the clown of their sisterhood, the Pink Cloak, who was perpetually positive and optimistic, about just anything. Love was an optimistic girl as well, and that's why she hit it off that well with Happy.

"Wanna go for a walk ? Oh, rather for a _ride_ ? Here we go, little bunny !" she chirped as she took off again.

She had been flying for 99,99 seconds when she spotted a new element in her domain, further away.

One she had never seen previously.

"This day starts much more surprisingly than most of the others… does it not, Bunny ?" she asked her fluffy new friend as she approached the spot of her second finding of the day.

She stopped in front of a stone figure that was set at the other end of the enormous grassy field.

The lower part of it seemed muscular and, looking up, Love noticed with surprised that the statue had a horse's head…

…and that the apples of its eyes were actually set on her !

"Oh ! It's looking at me… well, at _us_ , Bunny ! What do you think that thing is, say ?" she asked her rabbit, as if it could actually answer.

"You're talking to a **rabbit** , you know that ?"

The mysterious statue was able to SPEAK !

Out of surprise, Love squeaked and almost dropped the rodent !

"Wh-What ?! A statue that can TALK ?! Am I having hallucinations or what ?!" she asked herself, tightening her grip on the rabbit, just like a child would with a cuddly toy when being afraid, by way of reassurance.

"But no, you're not ! I may look like a statue, but I can still talk, yes. But as for me, I _don't_ talk to rabbits…"

The tone of the last sentence was naturally ironic, and a smirk appeared on the stone muzzle.

"Hey, I can talk to rabbits if I want to !" the emoticlone replied indignantly. "Bunny is my new friend, and I feel like communicating with him…"

"Sure, you can talk to rabbits, if that's what you're into. I'm not the one willing to prevent you from doing that kind of stuff… but just saying, you know… it's kind of weird…"

Love frowned at the large mineral horsehead, then it occurred to her she hadn't yet asked the two most important questions, and so…

"By the way… there are two things I still ignore about you : who you are exactly and how you came here ?"

The equine figure snorted.

"Yes, I guess you're right : I should introduce myself, since I'm a stranger here. I'm the Knight and I don't even know how I came here. I mean that I didn't arrive here _willingly_. So probably I got teleported or similar."

"Teleported ? Who would have done that ? Could it be Master ?" wondered Love.

Confusion appeared on the features of her vis-à-vis.

"Master ? Who is Master ?"

"It's the powerful sorceress known by everybody else by the name of Raven. She is our Master, and we obey her."

Confusion still didn't vanish from the Knight's face.

"Obey her ? Are you her servant ?"

Love chuckled.

"Not, not like that. I'm one of Master's emotions. There are seven other emotions, living in other domains of Nevermore. And we all are under the orders of Master… or Raven, if you prefer. We are her emotions, and she therefore owns us. We are part of her, and that's why we are to obey her. We are not independent but relate to her."

The chess piece was trying to process all this, but it proved a lot in just a few minutes. His life was way simpler, just being grabbed between two fingers and moved from square to square on the chessboard, every now and then, as the game evolved… and all of a sudden, things got way more complicated and the Knight had to use his brain, which he almost never did, as thinking wasn't exactly mandatory when being taken and moved around on a chessboard…

"Okay, so you're… uh… you're an emotion belonging to Raven, the girl who plays chess… right ?" he asked, to check if he had got it all.

"You got it all indeed ! great !" Then Love lowered her eyes to the rabbit. "He's a pretty smart horse, is he not, Bunny ?"

Said horse frowned again.

"Will you just STOP talking to a rabbit as if it could understand and reply ? And you're ironic when you say I'm smart, aren't you ?"

"BUT NO ! I wasn't ironic at all ! I **really** think that you're intelligent since you understood what I told you while it wasn't that evident to grasp ! I meant it, sincerely !"

The Knight visibly relaxed a bit when he heard that.

"Uh, okay then. Let's pretend I didn't say anything…"

"You did ! But that's okay, I'm not offended !" Love replied, before adding : "And as for speaking to Bunny here, I know this rabbit doesn't talk… but that he understands what I tell him and that he agrees !"

"Yeah yeah, sure, whatever, Alice…!" mocked the chess piece.

"HEY !" screamed Love, losing her legendary calm and nicety. "NOW I feel offended ! Please stop making fun of me ! Maybe YOU don't want to talk to rabbits, but I do, so please respect it. I'm not making fun of you, me, am I ?"

The addressee had to admit that she indeed didn't.

"Okay, you got a point here : you haven't been lacking respect to me. I shouldn't have mocked you. I was wrong."

"Good, but you didn't actually apologize. It isn't nice not to say you're sorry."

"Saying that I shouldn't have done it and that I was wrong means that I regret it. And that means that I **AM** sorry !"

But Love could be stubborn when she wanted to.

"I don't deny that you regret it, but actually phrasing it, as in "I apologize" or "I am sorry", is sweeter and makes people happier…"

The Knight let out a long, deep sigh.

"My gosh, how fussy you can be about the rules ! Are you always like that ?"

"It's just that it's nicer and more gentle…"

"Okay okay, I apologize. I'm sorry ! Really sorry ! There, you're happy now ?"

"I am. Although I'm not Happy but Love…" the grey teen replied, and then chuckled.

The stone being would have raised an eyebrow… IF he had had any !

"You're… you're not happy but love…? Right, you're even weirder than I first thought !"

"Ah ah, thank you ! But I understand your confusion. What I said was a pun : my name is Love, and one of my sisters is called Happy. So I am Love, and not Happy, since she's my sister. So when you said "you're happy now", I actually joked about -"

"Please don't say more !" almost yelled the Knight. "My head is already swelling from all that stuff ! Gosh, I'm not used to reflecting that much ! I'm usually just passive, being played on the chessboard, and never have to think things out… So this whole weird stuff is tiring me up !"

"Oh ! I'm sorry ! I didn't know that I was making you tired ! I didn't want to ! Sorry, really !" apologetically reacted Love as her face mirrored her embarrassment.

"Yeah… you CAN be sorry… uh… Love, right ?"

The emoticlone appeared even more uneasy than before.

"Sorry, again ! And yes, my name is Love. And by the way, yours is…?"

"Uh… my name, you mean ?"

"Yes. What are you called ?"

The stone creature hesitated.

"Hum… I… I don't know… I never thought of that… In fact, as I stated earlier, I rarely used my brain before, since I didn't need to, being merely used by Mas-… I mean, by **Raven** , so yeah, I didn't actually THINK much before… and thus never realized I didn't have a name !"

Love's eyes widened.

"Oh, I've got an idea : maybe I could find you a name ! Like I found one for my dear little Bunny here !" she said, and raised the rabbit above her head, almost triumphantly, as she finished speaking.

The Knight's eyes also widened… but **not** for the same reason !

"Hum… no thanks ! I'm not exactly willing to be called something like 'Bunny'…"

"No, _not_ Bunny… something else, more appropriate to you… mmmmmh, let me think of it for a bit…"

Her interlocutor sweatdropped and gulped.

"Nonono… I mean… it's really not necessary… trust me !"

But Love was getting into it, and currently leaving her imagination wander through the Name area in her mind.

"But we _**can't**_ leave you nameless, can we ?"

The Knight felt tension rise inside its body… well, hum… rather, its _structure_ !

"Yes… I mean NO ! But… hum… I don't know… is it that important to have a name ?"

"But of course it is ! You MUST have a name ! Let's see…"

The mineral creature was almost losing hope of making that cloaked girl give up her name project… when suddenly he got an idea !

"KNIGHT ! Just call me Knight, okay ?"

The Purple Hood raised an eyebrow.

"Knight ? That's not a name. That's what you are : a knight. But not a real name. We must find you a proper name !"

"NO !" And then lower : "I mean : no. 'Knight' will be fine, trust me. Please keep that one. Don't look for any other."

Love hesitated.

"You're sure ? Because I want to help, and it really doesn't bother me to look for -"

"I know, I know, but really, just keep 'Knight' to call me. I swear it will be just fine !"

She still seemed unsure.

"Hum… well, if you're sure…"

The Knight would have nodded if he had been able to move his head.

"I'm sure, I'm sure ! Believe me, I AM !"

She ended up shrugging.

"Okay. You know better."

But the emoticlone didn't fail to notice his brief manifestation of ease, as he briefly closed his eyes and most probably let out a deep sigh of relief.

"By the way…" she started, and he immediately eyed her with a certain worry, dreading she would come up with another fancy of hers "…where are the other chess pieces ? They probably are around here somewhere…"

"I haven't seen any up to now. But I haven't moved from here, because, you know… being made of stone…"

The grey-skinned girl simply looked at him in silence, slowly, stroking her rabbit, and he slightly frowned.

"…well, I can't walk, and therefore can't check the whereabouts…"

She kept smiling at him while caressing the soft creature nested in her arms, not uttering a single word.

"…since I can't move, I can't know if other chess pieces are in the surroundings !"

The cloaked female still remained "mute", settling for merely petting the rodent, and smiling on at the Knight.

The latter sweatdropped again, unsettled by his interlocutor's silence.

"And why don't you say anything now ?! I explained you and you don't talk ?! What the heck…?"

Love giggled.

"Don't get all worked up, dear Knight. There's really nothing to be so fussy about, really. I'm not speaking because I don't see any comment to make about what you said."

"Uh… hum… okay, but did you understand everything ?"

"Naturally I did. I may be very sweet and seem mushy to you, but I'm not stupid for all that…"

The eyes of the stone creature widened again, out of surprise as well as irritation.

"Hey ! I **never** said you were mushy !"

The Purple Cloak shrugged.

"Oh, I never said that you _said_ it… but that I may _seem_ mushy to you."

"But no… no, you don't !"

"Even if I keep stroking a rabbit and talked to it before ?"

"Well…"

She had a point : the Knight had indeed considered her a bit… mmmmh… superficial, as he saw her confide to… an animal !

"Bah, nevermind…" ended up saying the large being.

"I promise I won't get hurt if you tell me you did consider me that way !" she gently said.

Her interlocutor was cornered.

"Hum… okay, errrr… maybe… maybe **just** _a bit_ mushy… but only a little, really !" he ended up admitting reluctantly.

But his confession, although not particularly flattering, only made the girl smile nicely, possibly even nicer than before… as if the chess piece had actually uttered a compliment instead of a critic.

"See ? I knew you thought that way ! You just needed to trust me and say it out loud…" she gently told him.

He carefully watched her for a few seconds before uttering his next sentences.

"Ahem… you… uh… you are not… angry ? I mean… I just criticized you, so… I thought that maybe…this time… you'd be… hum… upset ?"

She snorted as her smile slightly grew bigger.

"Oh no ! I'm not the kind to easily get offended. But should you be addressing Rage… or even Brave, perhaps… then yes, you _**would**_ have upset them, as they take negative remarks pretty bad… as if the one making the remark is picking at them for good !"

"Ah, uh… okay then."

The Knight let out a sigh of relief.

"You're too tense, I think. Maybe partly because you thought you had hurt my feelings. You really need to relax. You didn't do anything wrong, Knight. And in fact, I consider you a rather cool person… hum, well, _chess piece_ !" she told him.

That was enough to make the other goggle for the third or fourth time that day.

"Me ? I'm… cool ?!"

She nodded.

"Yup, quite so. And I think you really should chill a bit. You know, relax a bit. Let all worrisome thoughts aside."

Then her eyes lit up, while her grin stretched to its maximum.

"In fact… I believe that what you really need is… A HUG !"

She then put the rabbit down and started in direction of the stone horse… who sweatdropped (for the third or fourth time of the day…) and gulped (same as before) !

"Eeeeeh ! You… You're not serious, right ?!" he screamed at her as she approached.

"Of course I'm serious ! I'm _always_ serious when it's about cuddling !" she replied with a proud smile as she stepped closer.

"NO, WAIT !" yelled the Knight, but on seeing the surprise surge on the emoticlone's face, he added in a normal though rushed voice : "I-I mean… eh eh… Kind of you to be willing to be nice to me, but I… I'm really fine like that, you know…"

Love stopped and made a face, arms crossed.

But then her face lit up once again, and her grin filled it once more !

"And I say you DO need a hug !"

And she resumed her walk, being now very close to the Knight.

"Listen… I don't need a hug… uh, well, I mean, it's nice of you to propose one, but I'm really good that way ! So… hum… errrr… yeah, it's okay, really !"

Love stopped right in front of the stone creature, and given her position, the Knight couldn't see her… and couldn't move his head to check out where she was, given that he was, after all, only a… statue, you know !

The Knight got worried all of a sudden.

"Eh ? Love ? Where are you ? What are you doing ?"

"Just getting ready…" she replied from below, from where he couldn't spot her.

"R-Ready ? B-But ready… f-for what ? Wh-What are you…g-going to do ?"

"Mmmmmmmmh… THIS !"

And before the Knight could even utter anything, he felt a light pressure at the very bottom of his basis.

A light pressure… AND a sense of warmth, indicating that a source of heat had just touched him.

"Mmmmmmmmh… you're a bit cold but nevermind !" whispered Love as she kept her arms around the circular part of the chess piece, her cheek pressed against the cool stone surface.

The Knight couldn't utter anything further.

She had got him !

The hug lasted for long seconds… without neither speaking… (insert 'awkward silence' here)…

And when the tender emotion finally let go, and glided backwards to take a look at the Knight's face, she saw that his eyes were half-closed and a blissfully happy smile stretched his lips.

"Enjoyed it, I see…" said a smirking Love.

"That… wasn't… so bad… after all… I admit !" conceded her interlocutor, feeling almost as if drunk (kinda love drunk, you know…).

"Told you so…" proudly uttered Love.

"But… hum… although that was nice after all… I still have to get back to the Chessboard…"

"And how will you do that ?"

"I don't know. I came here by a kind of teleportation. If only I could find a way to reverse it…"

That's when Love's face… guess what ?... LIT UP, like it had begun a new fashion of lighting up every now and then, uh !

"Hey, I can teleport you back to the Chessboard, if you want !" she proposed.

His eyes grew to the size of flying saucers again.

"You… you could do that ?"

"Of course I can. We emoticlones have the same powers as Master, and teleportation is one of them. So if I can help you… I will !"

"You're so kind to me…" he said, with a note of emotion in his voice.

"Eh eh, why do you think they call me 'Love', mmmmh ?" she replied with a wink.

She then raised her arms in direction of the mineral being.

"We had just got to know each other… too bad you have to go already… but if that's your wish… yet I will miss you, dear Knight !"

She broke her position to blow him a kiss then resume her position, arms stretched at him.

"Eeeeeeh… I guess I will miss you too, Love !" he admitted.

The emoticlone smiled and recited a sequence of words…

…intense light surrounded the Knight…

… that light grew and grew…

… and when it faded away…

… the Knight was gone !

Love stared at the exact place where her short-time visitor had been "standing"… and wiped away a tiny tear that had formed at the corner of her right eye.

"I'm definitely too emotional… the most emotional of our gang… but that's who I am after all…" she spoke up, apparently to herself, but in fact for you readers to hear.

She was about to turn around and leave… when something resurfaced inside her memory !

The purple-cloaked female hurried forward and started frantically checking the whereabouts… until she found what she had been desperately looking for !

"Ahaaaaa ! You thought you could escape like that, without another cuddle ? Well, guess what : wrong pick ! Come here, little buddy !"

And after kissing the rabbit on its tiny head, she began a new stroking session, for she just loooooooved that soft rabbit hair under her hand…

 **:_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :_ :**

 **And there it is ! Another chappy in the basket !**

 **Ah ah, Love and her rabbit… pretty funny, eh ? She just loves everything cute, ya know, so… Mr Rabbit shouldn't have come out of its hole today, eh ! (and yeah, it's a wink to ALICE IN WONDERLAND indeed !)**

 **Big Up to all the Smashing Pumpkins fans round her, and long live MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS, my favourite double album of all times.**

 ***streeeeeeeetches and yaaaaaaaawns** *****

 **Okay, I guess it's time for me (after correcting & posting this, naturally) to resume with INLAND EMPIRE… coz Ana must have eaten up all her nails, anxiously waiting for my update…**

 **We'll meet again… hum… someday ? XD**

 **Take care, ya bunch of… cool readers ! ^^**

 **Till nXt time !**

 **:Dxx**


	6. Until the end of the (night) KNIGHT !

**Greeeeeeeetiiiiiiiiiings, Folxxxx !**

 **While waiting for next INLAND EMPIRE chapter, why not "push the stone" a tad further" with CHECKMATED !, eh ? Ya know, I really like that alternation between stories, and switch from the serious one to the comical one and back ? The nice collaboration with Skychild101 for INLAND EMPIRE – unlike my previous one for my PUSSYCALL EDUCATION story – also helps to keep a good balance between both fictions and harmoniously continuing both of them at its own time. So, all in all, pretty cool parallel writing, and thanxxxx Ana for your help and support !**

 **Just rediscovered French electronic band M83's debut album, me who really enjoyed all their following ones, and it's a pretty nice first try ! Kudos to Anthony Gonzalez for keeping electronic mind up in the stars !**

 **Oh, and I may be able to attend Massive Attack's concert in Switzerland, in July ! Man, been waiting for that for sooooo long… can't believe it's likely to happen ! Gotta pinch myself… uh, wait, better do it only once the tickets are actually purchased… uh, wait AGAIN, better in fact pinch myself only when the concert starts… uh, wait, better once it's over ! And… ok, shutting it for good ! ^^''**

 **But wait… wait a second… there are also Jean Michel Jarre, M83 and Air as well this summer ?! Oh, gosh ! I'd like to see them all ! But I can't see them all ! But I'd like to see them all ! But I can't see them all ! But I'd like to see them all ! But I can't see them all ! But I'd like to see them all ! But I can't see them all ! But I'd like to see them all ! But I can't see them all ! But I'd like to see them all ! But… AAAAAH DAAAAMN, BLOODY BROKEN RECORD ! (*break record under my foot*)**

 **And so… uh…back to rollercoaster of laughter once again, right ?**

 **Time to…**

… **N'JOY !**

 **#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\# UNTIL THE END OF THE (NIGHT) KNIGHT… #/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#**

"Get this ! And this ! And this !"

The green-cloaked female was shadowboxing in the large plain covered with hillocks.

Every now and then, a spout of scalding water would erupt from the depths of the soil at the top of some hillock.

The emoticlone enjoyed those geysers which characterized her domain and somehow reflected her own nature, fiery and impulsive… and, just like the water itself, pretty HOT (that is, hot-blooded) !

Brave had been throwing non-stop combinations of punches and kicks for more than an hour when she suddenly decided that even the heroes do need some break after a long exercise. She had great endurance and could keep practicing for quite some time, but on that day, she didn't feel like doing it for so long.

 _What's the matter with me today ? Getting lazy all of a sudden ? That's totally unlike me ! Dammit, I really hope that Sloth isn't rubbing off on me… I couldn't stand turning like her !_

The most active of all emotions – well, **physically** at least, since Knowledge was the most active… **intellectually** – made cartwheels in direction of the tree at the bottom of which she had left her green flask.

After making a somersault and landing perfectly, she grabbed the plastic bottle, used her teeth to pull out the small mobile cork and let out a long satisfied sigh as she felt the cool energizing drink flow down her throat.

Happy had once seen the colour of that sport drink, which was blue, and had asked her from which planet it came… and she had asked the same question a few weeks later, upon spotting an orange-coloured tonic drink !

And when her athletic sister had told her that these weird beverages were actually made nowhere else, thus did originate from Earth, the bubbliest of all emoticlones had opened eyes almost as big as planet Jupiter…

"Mmmmmh… couldn't live without this !" Brave spoke up as she wiped her mouth dry, as if she was actually talking to somebody close-by.

She recapped the flask and copiously stretched with a long moan of delight.

Then she sat down to start limbering up, not yet ready to resume with a hardcore training session, and wondering once again if she wasn't becoming lazy, like her idle, brown-dressed sister… a thought which almost brought shivers to her back !

She had been at it for God knows how much time when the ground shook violently… but only once ! Nothing afterwards.

The sporty girl raised an eyebrow.

 _Okay, either this was the briefest earthquake in History, or it was_ _ **n't**_ _an earthquake but one of my unruly sisters pulling some prank or doing whatever silly stuff they can come up with… I swear they're gonna hear it ! Damn, why don't they go bother Rage…? Well, actually… I have an idea why !_

Yes, she DID have an idea about her sisters leaving Rage quiet. None of them dared to annoy the most terrible of their group, because doing so would be equivalent to signing one's own death warrant ! No less ! Rage could certainly imagine dozens of "pretty nice" ways to torture somebody, and nobody was that much curious as to find out _what_ ways exactly… so better just leave good old four eyes alone ! Well… _**good**_ , maybe not… so _**bad**_ old four eyes, yup !

Anyway, back to our plot, eh ? Coz after all, that's not the time and place to ramble about Rage… she'll have her own chapter, and I'll have all the time to write about her then…

So, hum… where were we again ?

Ah yes, the shaking ground…!

So, yeah, Brave was wondering what was with that sudden briefest-earthquake-in-History !

But she had an inkling it may well be a certain pink-dressed teen of her knowledge… that or Rude at some new antics of hers again !

Only one way to know who she should chastise : explore !

No sooner said than done, the impetuous female took off and began flying around.

She didn't have to fly for long, though (approximately 19,5 seconds, I would estimate), because it was pretty certain to her that the immense shape towering over the opposite part of the geyser plain, on the other side of the cliff, wasn't there the previous day !

And that someone had therefore brought it there. Okay, maybe not _carried_ it, given the hugeness of the object… more like that mysterious someone had made it appear or something along those lines…

 _Okay, now what's that crap ?_

She hurried to the unknown thing that was squatting part of her territory and soon was landing at a short distance from the puzzling object, to examine it in detail.

The basis was cylindrical, and the upper part consisted of a horse's head, with its eyes closed.

Brave frowned.

 _That thing reminds me of something… but what ?_

She tilted her head to the side, as if looking at the large shape from a different angle would light up a bulb up there, in her neurons… (now, dear reader, don't go imagining that Brave was dumb, as she definitely wasn't…. ** **see Brave glaring at me**** eh eh, ahem, errr… as I just said, she wasN'T !)

"Okay, who did that ? Come on, Happy, I know it's you ! Get out of your hideout and put that big pebble where you took it from !" she said aloud.

No reply.

No noise.

No movement.

Well, in fact, there _was_ a movement. Not around her on the ground, where she was looking this way and that way, expecting her prankster of her sister to maybe show up, but above her, on the statue : the large eyes opened and stared at the green-clad girl looking around her, right opposite.

"Happy ! I've got a lot of exercising to do today, and no time to play ! Maybe this afternoon, if you're nice and disciplined till then… but that implies taking this stone stuff over there **back to where it belongs** !"

Still no reply.

Still no noise.

Still no… uh, wait ! No, there WAS another movement, and it was again on the statue : it _frowned_ !

A frowning statue ?!

A frowning statue !

Can we go on now ?

So, Brave was getting pretty impatient and, clenching her fists, she yelled : "HAAAAAA-PPYYYYYYYY !"

And that's when it happened !

"Can't you just be quiet ?!" asked a scolding voice.

The self-confident emoticlone looked up… and goggled !

There were two open eyes on the statue, and they were staring down at her, with a frown right above !

"Yes, I'm talking to YOU !" confirmed the mineral creature in a loud, threatening voice.

"You gotta be kidding me…!" Brave spoke up, still with wide open eyes.

"No kidding there, but just being upset with your screams !" replied the other.

"You an alien of some sort or what ?" asked Brave with endless perplexity, one of her eyebrows raised as an obvious sign of her bewilderment..

"It's : **are you** an alien of some sort, actually… and no, as a matter of fact, I'm not."

"Whatever… What are you exactly ? I mean, aside from a talking horse statue…"

"A talking horse statue…" whispered the creature to itself, rolling eyes, before continuing in a normal voice : "I am the Knight. One of the chess pieces living on the chessboard of the female wizard."

One of Brave's eyebrows rose again.

"The female wizard ? Who the hell is that ?" she questioned.

"Well, how many wizards do you know in the Teen Titans' team ?" ironically asked the Knight.

"Ah, Master ! But why didn't you say it clearly ?"

"Master ? Her name is Raven ! And, hum, it was so evident that I was talking about her that I still wonder how you didn't get it immediately…"

Brave glared at her vis-à-vis.

"Hey, you saying that I'm daft or what ?!" half-asked half-stated the feisty teen.

"Calm down, young one ! I never said that ! But your question was…"

A brief pause.

"Was WHAT ?" insisted the Green Cloak, glaring even harder.

Brave was known among the emoticlones for having a well-rooted self-esteem, along with Rage, and their sisters made sure to _**never**_ irritate those proud emotions, who were not exactly the kind to refuse a fight… especially if their honor was at stake !

"Well, was not really necessary, given that there is only **one** female wizard in the team, so it has to be Raven ! That's logical, no ?" explained the Knight.

"Are you saying I'm asking unnecessary questions and that I'm not logical in my head ?" questioned the green-clad girl.

The chess piece sighed.

"You really have much pride, don't you… hum… I don't even know your name, actually, while I told you mine…"

Another rise of eyebrow for Brave (new habit on the way !).

"You told me your name ? I don't recall hearing a name. You only told me that you were the Knight, a chess piece, and that you came from the chessboard, nothing else…"

"Knight IS my name, or serves as my name, if you prefer !" clarified the stone being.

"I don't prefer anything, in fact, I don't mind ! I just don't want you to sully my honour by implying I'm not intelligent enough !"

"I never implied that, but perhaps you've heard that one can lack reflection at a time yet still be intelligent ? Just because one speaks without thinking on an occasion doesn't mean that he/she is stupid. So I did not imply you weren't smart, but it seems you're the kind to go ballistic easily, aren't you….. hum, I STILL don't know your name, by the way !"

"Brave ! And I'm not the kind to fly off the handle that easily, but what you said seemed offending, so I felt the necessity to make myself respected !"

"Okay, okay, let's forget it… And you still didn't tell me your name, eh ! But maybe you're afraid that I woul-"

"I'M NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING !" yelled the grey-skinned teen, clenching her fists again. "I'M NOT THE KIND TO BE AFRAID ! I'M BRAVE AND I DON'T FEAR ANYTHING !"

"Wow wow wow, calm down, will you ? Okay, you're brave, but no need to scream like that… relax a bit….. hum, whatever your name is !"

"BRAVE ! MY NAME IS BRAVE !"

"BUT QUIT YELLING LIKE THAT !"

"HEY, YOU'RE YELLING TOO, IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED !"

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU UPSET ME SO MUCH WITH YOUR OWN SCREAMING !"

"AND BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE SCREAMS… YOU SCREAM YOURSELF ?!"

"LISTEN…"

But then it occurred to the Knight that this loudmouth opposite her was right… even if he hated to admit it. Was shouting the best way to react to the dislike of shouts ? Evidently not, even on the contrary ! In fact, it was the most paradoxical manner to react…

"Okay, let's calm down, alright… uh, Brave ?! _That's_ your name ?! It's an adjective… What a strange idea to make a name out of it…" observed the horse-headed entity.

"WELL THAT'S MY NAME, LIKE IT OR NOT !"

"Alright… Brave, but please stop YE-LLING ! Okay ? Because it's really getting annoying ! Gosh, what a spitfire you are, always vociferating when angry…!"

The Green Cloak pinched the area right above the bridge of her nose, between her eyes, her eyes closed : no doubt she was trying to control herself and not burst out again… but also no doubt she was having a hard time at this ! Being used to jumping the gun, Brave was a real powder keg and one had to choose his/her words carefully to avoid offending the proud emotion who embodied not only the courage… but also the fighting spirit of Raven !

And given that the girl never renounced a fight or any physical challenge of some sort… better be very cautious when talking to her !

"Okay, look… I'll make an effort at keeping my cool if YOU make an effort at respecting me !" proposed the emoticlone.

"Am I being disrespectful just because I point out your lack of composure ?" questioned the chess piece.

"Well, do you find that respectful ?!" retorted the half-demonic girl.

"Making an observation isn't being impolite or inconsiderate !" remarked the non-human.

Long sigh from the hooded one.

"Yeah right. Whatever. We're not on the same page, so why argue ?" she said more calmly than she thought herself able to.

It was the Knight's turn to sigh.

"I'm getting tired quickly in here. And where am I, anyway ?"

"This place is called Nevermore, and this part here is my domain. And now that we talk about it… what are you doing in MY domain ? How did you arrive in there ? Who lead you here ? Why have you come ? How-"

"Woah woah woah, calm down… uh… Brave ! One question at a time, alright ? I can't reply to everything all at once !"

The dynamic emoticlone made a face, crossing her arms… but she inwardly came up to the conclusion that it was indeed correct : she was asking too many questions at one and the same time ! She always hated to admit her being wrong, just as much as she hated beet juice, but when she was _forced_ to… she did ! (hum, talking about admitting her being wrong here… not about the beet juice thing… as she definitely would NEVER drink that stuff !)

"Okay okay. So, basically : what-are-you-doing-in-my-domain ?" she asked.

"If only I knew that… I was quietly waiting to be played on the chessboard, along with all my companions, and suddenly found myself hanging in mid air, above that plain, and then crashed on the ground. How I was teleported here remains a mystery. That's all I know."

Brave was eyeing the Knight as he spoke, and she made a small "frowning movement" with her lips at the end, one that gave away her skepticism.

"So you're saying you came here by teleportation, and not a clue about who did it…?" she asked, to check if she had gotten it all right.

"That's what I'm saying indeed !" replied the stone being.

The grey girl's eyes slightly narrowed.

"That sounds really…"

A brief pause.

"…unbelievable !"

And she remained there, motionless, arms crossed, eyes narrowed, her mouth slightly misshapen in an incredulous face-pulling.

The other understood that the small teen standing in front of him had a hard time giving credence to his explanation of his presence in Nevernore.

 _I saw what kind of personality she has, how she can be short-tempered, and if she starts mistrusting me… oh gosh, it won't be a cinch convincing that hard-headed girl…!_

"You don't think that what I told you is true, do you ?" asked the Knight.

"Hum… well… I actually don't know if I should believe it or not… I'm not saying it's wrong… but I really don't understand why someone would teleport a chess piece in here. What would be the reason of it. And since I can't find one… I'm still dubious about your statement."

"Yet it's the truth. Why on Earth would I willingly choose to come here ? I mean, I didn't even know this place existed ! How can one decide to go to a place he/she doesn't even _**know**_ about ?! That doesn't make any sense, you agree with me, right ?"

Brave airily tilted her head to the side as she pondered that.

"'kay, you got a point, I guess. And a big one, in fact. For if you have no reason to come here by yourself… then why would you ? But if someone else did send you here… **who** was it and **why** did he/she do such a thing ?!"

"You're asking me ? Jeez, if only I knew the answer to that… I would tear that person's arms off his/her body ! I swear I would !"

The emoticlone sniggered.

"AND YOU FIND THAT FUNNY ?!" half-screamed the horse head.

The crossed-armed figure watched her vis-à-vis with visible amusement.

"Ah ah, yeah, in fact, I do ! But I'm not mocking you, mind you ! It's just that you said that you would tear arms off their body… but how can you do that… without hands ?!"

And Brave chuckled anew.

"So you're laughing at me because I don't have hands like you ? Very clever I must say…" observed the chess piece on an icy tone that gave away his annoyance.

"Eh, easy, Knight ! I wasn't making fun of you… so you don't have to be unpleasant like that !" retorted the green-dressed one, the smile leaving her lips.

"If I want to be unpleasant because you're lacking respect, then I will be ! You accused me of being disrespectful before… now it's the other way round !"

The impetuous emotion felt that she was losing her cool and returning to her good old self, the one always ready to pick a fight if need be.

"Hey, look here ! I'm not disrespectful at all, okay ? I was merely teasing you, so take a chill pill, will you ?" she said very loud, not yet screaming, but ready to nevertheless.

The Knight sighed.

"You can be really tiring, you know, Brave ?"

"Well, guess what ? So can you, Knight !"

"I'm not tiring at all."

"You are !"

"I'm not."

"I say you are !"

"And I say I'm not."

"Yes !"

"No."

"Oh yes !"

"Oh no."

(*vigorous nod from Brave*)

(*energetic head-shake from the Knight*)

The next minute was spent in a glaring contest, none of them willing to lower his/her eyes, each certain to be right and the other wrong.

"My oh my, why did I have to be teleported exactly HERE, where you are staying ? Why couldn't I be sent to some nicer place, with a nicer person ?" complained the stone structure with another sigh.

"Hey, will you stop saying I'm not nice ? It's not true !" replied an indignant emoticlone.

"You're always getting angry after a while and screaming…" pertinently remarked the Knight.

Brave raised a finger and pointed it at the Knight, ready to contradict that… when she suddenly stopped right in the middle of it, realizing that he was correct after all : she DID get easily angry… and she DID scream regularly once she was ! There was therefore nothing wrong in what her interlocutor had just said !

"Okay, okay, maybe I'm short-tempered and easily get furious, but after all, that's who I am. I mean, you also have your own flaws, no ?"

"Of course I do. And it's not a problem for me to admit them. Is it a problem for YOU to admit YOURS, mmmmmh ?"

Brave felt her level of patience reach its bottom.

"Whatever ! Let's stop that talk right here right now !" she said on authoritarian tone.

"Did I hit a sensitive nerve, by chance ?" replied the Knight in an unctuous voice.

"I said STOP ! Or else I swear I'm gonna find a way to make gravel out of you !"

"Alright, alright… needless get that naughty, my dear… wrath is useless and leads nowhere, you know that… and besides, afterwards, you'll have to clean up all that gravel afterwards, so… no good idea, right ?"

Brave felt herself fuming, but then she recalled Rage and her being perceived negatively by all the other emotions… and it occurred to her that she did NOT want to be seen in a negative light !

 _Calm down, Brave, calm down… Perhaps that Knight is just trying to drive you nuts… and if I get angry, he will get what he wanted ! Let's just try to get rid of him…_

"Hum… listen… I've got things to do and not that much time to chat… so I think you should go, really…" the Green Cloak told her visitor.

The Knight pondered his answer.

"Do you hold a grudge against me ?" he finally asked.

"Nevermind if I do. I must go and would like you to leave my domain. So…"

"I would be really glad to get away from here… but since I don't even know how I landed here…"

"Okay, okay, I guess I'll have to do the whole job then. I can use my powers to teleport you away. And yeah, I'm sure you must be impatient to be away from that angry emotion getting on your nerves…"

The Knight got an offended look.

"Hey, I never said that !"

"You don't need to phrase it aloud : given our discussion, it was only logical to deduce it…"

"But, hum…"

"But nothing ! Be quiet now, so that I can focus on the teleportation spell !" ordered the dynamic teen as she closed her eyes.

"Okay, but don't be mad -"

"QUIET, I said !" concluded Brave, leaving her eyes shut.

The mineral creature didn't reply this time, and rather let the emoticlone concentrate.

Finally, Brave's eyes reopened white and the girl pronounced a sequence of words.

A white light surrounded the Knight, which grew and grew, soon wrapping completely the chess piece.

After long seconds, the blinding light subsided, and when it disappeared completely, the place was empty.

Brave let out a loooooooooong sigh and brushed her hands against each other, several times, as if to imply "good riddance".

Then she thought of something and remained motionless for a moment.

She was in fact reflecting about the whole conversation, how it had gone, evolved.

And as her thinking came to an end, a small smile showed up on her lips.

"Bah, that was still fun somehow… and it drew me away from my daily routine for a while… not bad to do something else every now and then… even if that implied getting all worked up, like good old Rage ! But what matters in the end is that I won, and made her leave my domain ! Yay me !"

And after pumping a fist in the air as she uttered the last bit, she resumed shadowboxing, imagining it was the Knight opposite her…

 **#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#**

" **That's a wrap !"**

 **And that's it for Brave !**

 **I wanted to make her angry and grumpy, cranky… even if I admit that could / would also apply to Rage !**

 **That was quite a heated exchange, wasn't it ? It's not that easy having the upper hand on a Knight ! But just wait to see what it will be like with the Queen ! I've already my idea of it and… well, the emoticlone facing her will have a hard time getting a hold of herself and not destroy the Queen straight away ! (*teaser teaser*)**

 **Hope ya liked that one. Not sure it's as good as the previous ones though. I seem to be less satisfied of the result. I dunno about ya, but I've done better IMO.**

 **Anyway, that was it, and I thank you for continuing to read me ! We've now reached the middle of this story, and I'm still overall happy with it. Hope you are as well.**

 **And before I take my leave from you all, I would like to send a prayer up to the skies for dear Prince, that artist I was so fond of in my teen years (I owned almost all his studio records from 1982 to 1992), and who proved such an essential musician and singer back in the '80 and '90 ! He was unique and despite his huge ego and his upsetting decisions (such as remove most of his original music videos from the net…), he will be remembered as a very talented one, a genius in his own kind. May your soul rest in eternal bliss, Prince Rogers Nelson, and thank you from the depths of my heart for your admirable musical legacy ! The Purple Rain is falling today over the world like endless tears of sorrow regarding your too-early demise…**

 **Wish ya all good, Pals ! Take care & never forget to smile !**

 **Peace, Love, Ecstasy !**

 **:Dxx**

 **("…we're gonna party like it's 1999…")**


	7. Here is the (workshop) BISHOP !

**Good morning… or afternoon… or evening ! =)**

 **Man, that's a really really awful year that 2016… artistically speaking ! David Bowie in January, Prince in April… two giants of music gone in just four months ! Who's next ? Madonna ? Phil Collins ? Bob Dylan ? Sting ? Bruce Springsteen ? God, oh God, just thinking of it…!**

 **I'm really sad to have lost those two great stars, and I've decided to listen to all the pre-1982 albums by Prince, which I never really listened to, or only 1-2 tracks from them, and also listen again to the full Prince albums I can find on the net… coz guess what, on the very day of Prince's demise, some users did upload several FULL albums of the Kid of Minneapolis ! But alas, all of them have been deleted since then, courtesy of Web Sheriff. Yet you can find most of the album traxxxx individually, be it in studio version or, for the most famous ones, in live version. Ah guys, his death makes me so damn nostalgic…!**

 **I hope you folxxxx are all fine, and that life is… hum, merciful to ya all ! And wish you the best, really !**

 **Alright, here we go again !**

 **N'joy !**

 **(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*( HERE IS THE (WORKSHOP) BISHOP ! )*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)**

One of the most notable places in Nevermore was the Maze.

And it certainly was the most complex of all, with its intricate paths, dead ends and "crossroads".

Pretty pertinently, and therefore not just by chance, that elaborate place was set in the domain of one of the most complex emoticlones : Timid.

Since a maze also releases an impression of protection, this suited even more the grey-clad girl who was so shy and definitely needed a place where she would feel secure.

Last point : the quietest of all emotions was very secretive, keeping her feelings within, and that somehow related to the maze, which also had this mysterious and secret aura.

And to those who would feel bored about this long development, time to shake yourselves off your torpor, coz the plot begins for real NOW !

Timid had just returned from her nice rendezvous with Love and was smiling to herself as she entered the Maze, after appearing right in front of it.

Love always managed to make Timid feel at ease, safe, and make her smile. She was one of the few who not only didn't scare her but even on the contrary managed to draw smiles from her; in fact, the only other emoticlone who could do it as well was Knowledge, as she was each time so considerate to her, calm and patient, caring for her shyness and her introversion, never losing patience with her, who was the easily-afraid of the group.

As she progressed in the convoluted shape, slowly heading to the center, where her private accommodation was, she kept smiling at the thought of that very agreeable morning, her mind focused on the happy times spent with her privileged sister, the one she shared the strongest bond with.

She turned another corner and found herself in the center of the labyrinth…

…where a large statue was taking up most of the room in her living quarters !

Timid simultaneously jolted and goggled, then instantly retraced her steps to hide on the other side of the corner she had last turned !

The poor frightened girl at first didn't understand how she had missed that big statue, visually speaking.

But then, as she pondered it…

 _I-I appeared right in front of-of my maze, and-and given the height of-of the walls, I couldn't s-see that statue… and since I was l-lost in my thoughts as I w-walked, I didn't s-spot it rising above the-the walls…_

Timid tended to stutter when she had to speak under fear's influence… but she also stammered mentally in such a context ! Quite atypical, isn't it, dear reader ?

Her heart was hammering madly inside her ribcage like it was desperately trying to emulate Bloc Party's former drummer Matt Tong as he banged on his snare drum ! (A/N : great drummer, one of my fav's…! :D)

The scared teen ventured to peek around the corner, gulping as she slowly moved her head forward.

The large stone shape was still resting right in the center of the Maze, and Timid therefore could take the time to scrutinize it.

The lower half was just a kind of pedestal, so nothing special about it, but its upper half was way more interesting : the center was apparently sculpted, it went up high in a thin "neck" above which rose a slightly triangular part with an horizontal hole in it, like a slit, and it was topped by a tiny, almost spherical part.

A quite strange statue it was indeed…

After prudently staring at the strange thing, Timid eventually decided that it wasn't threatening in any way, and that she could after all come out and analyze the misplaced object more closely.

She therefore slowly stepped towards the large item that had so unexpectedly invaded her privacy and, once she had reached it, she circumspectly walked around, examining it with her impressed look, in which a bit of residual dread still remained.

Once she was back to the front of the statue, the grey-skinned girl bit her lip as she observed that mysterious slit at the top. She was almost wishing she could fly up there and look closer, but… you know… Timid being Timid… she as always dreaded something bad to happen.

And just like she was hesitating…

"Hellooooooo !"

The emoticlone jumped backwards and alas couldn't avoid her fall.

She looked up with a panicking look and her eyes met… two eyes that had just appeared right above the horizontal hole (i.e. the slit) and were staring at her with amusement !

"Woopsy ! Hope it didn't hurt !" said the statue, its hole being used as a mouth.

But there was no reply, as Timid had already swiftly cleared out, again taking refuge behind the corner.

"Eh eh, come back, little one ! I'm not gonna eat you ! I just wanna natter a bit, that's all !"

The most fearful emoticlone gingerly peeped out at the stone figure, licking her lips under pressure's influence.

"Cooee, Miss Livy-Livered ! Eh eh, sorry for the ironic nickname, but, see, I just looooove joking around ! Hey, come on, come out ! "come on, come out"… ah ah ah, nice pun, eh ?"

Timid was still uncertain about coming out of her hiding place, and merely settled for a distant observation of that incredible talking (and quite talkative…) statue.

"I can see yoooouuuu ! Listen, I promise I won't devour you ! And I'm not crossing my fingers behind my back coz… duuuuuh, I don't have any hands, therefore no fingers ! Ah ah ah, am I not the funniest ?!"

The stone creature was joking and laughing, clearly trying to put the scared girl at ease, make her feel safe again and eventually come out.

And guess what ?

It worked !

For after three minutes of cautious staring and comforting words and laughs from that weird animated statue, Timid ended up plucking up enough courage to finally leave her hideout and slowly walk towards that normally inanimate thing… which actually moved and spoke, and was doing its best to be friendly to her !

"There ! Come chat with me ! As I promised, I'm not gonna attack you, so you've got really noooothing to be afraid of ! Don't you think ? Mmmmh ?"

Biting her lower lip as she trundled along, Timid stopped just then and, looking up, she decided to give the statue a reply, this time.

"I-I know that you're t-trying to be nice but I-I've always been easily s-scared, and even more by s-strangers. I-I'm sorry about that, but that's in m-my nature, I c-can't help it. S-Sorry, really…" she said in a voice just loud enough for the other to hear.

"Ah ah, no worry, girl, really no worry ! Do I look like I'm accusing you of something ? Do I, eh ? And if I ever do, well… it's all just an impression ! A wrong impression ! (A/N : …like Natalia Imbruglia sang !) I'm not one to get easily mad, you know, as I'm cool… cool as an ice cube, ah ah !" her interlocutor said in a comforting manner.

And he even winked at her, to show that he was joking and trying to be as nice as possible to her, thus helping her to feel safe and comfy.

"Th-Thank you for... uh… for not being angry at me !" Timid quietly said, vaguely attempting to sketch a smile (but Timid smiling… ah guys, that's another story… which I'm not gonna write ! XD)

"Anytime ! Ah, uh, by the way… I haven't introduced myself, and I'm suuuuure you're impatient to know what my name is… aren't you ?" jokingly asked the statue.

The emoticlone's eyes slightly grew bigger.

"W-Well, hum… to be honest… I-I wasn't exactly impatient…" Then she realized she might hurt the other's feelings, so she hurriedly added : " N-Not that I don't mind your name… but… hum… it's just that… uh…"

"Ah ah, it's okay, little girl, forget it ! I'm not mad at you anyway ! How could I be mad at such a cute girl as you ? Mmmmh… is that a blush I see on your cheeks ? Eh eh, anyway anyway… I am the Bishop and I live on the Chessboard… well, duuuuh, **normally** , since I'm here right now ! So you can call me Bishop, or simply B if you wanna be cool ! And what's _your_ name, Miss ?"

"T-Timid."

The Bishop at first didn't know what to say.

He had asked her her name… and she had answered him she was timid ?!

"Uuuuuh no, Darling, timid is **what** you are, while I asked you **who** you are !"

"I'm Timid."

"Ah ah, yeah, I could already figure out you were timid. But I like timid girls too… but I prefer when I can call them by their real names, you know…"

"B-But _that's_ my name :  Timid ! Th-That's what I'm called ! Because of m-my shyness, because I-I actually represent timidity a-as an emotion !"

The Bishop had a hard time following this all.

"Okay, uh, wait a minute… or maybe even several minutes, after all… you're saying that your name _**is**_ Timid ?!" he tried to clarify.

"Uh… y-yeah…" hesitantly replied the fearful girl, feeling almost ashamed of having such an atypical name as that.

"And… uh… what was it you said afterwards… about timidity as an emotion ? That was also… hum, pardon me, but… pretty weird, uh !"

Timid licked her lips as she realized he had a hard time believing her. That lip-licking was a mannerism of hers when she felt nervous, hesitant, unsure of herself… possibly also afraid, sometimes.

"Y-Yes… I-I may look like Master, b-but in fact I represent one of h-her emotions… and namely her t-timidity… her sh-shyness… that is why m-my name is Timid…"

The Bishop tried hard to focus, in order to avoid losing track of that discussion thread… definitely the strangest one ever !

"You represent the emotions of… who ? You said 'Master' ? Who is that ?"

The grey-cloaked female made some kind of wince that was one of her best attempts at smiling.

"M-Master is the one all of the e-emotions in this land b-belong to. Her real name is R-Raven, but we call her M-Master out of r-respect…"

The chess piece appeared thoughtful.

"Raven ?" He raised his eyes to the clear blue sky as he reflected on it. "Mmmmmh… Raven… let me see… Raven… well, uh… Raven… mmmmmmh… nope, never heard of that person ! Who is it ?"

The emoticlone was slightly surprised by the conclusion, as she had thought that he may ending up remembering who Raven was. His denying it _did_ surprise her, yes.

"I-It's a female h-half-demon with p-purple hair and a b-blue cloak, blue b-boots and black l-leotard, and grey s-skin too."

The large being opposite her smirked in a knowing way.

"So, kind of identical to you, save for the different cloak and boot colour, yeah ?" he asked, following with a wink.

Timid swallowed, slightly uneasy because of that unexpected wink. She definitely wasn't used to strangers being that nice to her.

"Y-Yes… I resemble her in-indeed…" she finally confirmed.

"Eh wait, isn't that… Raven or Master or whatever… isn't she the girl who plays chess in that dark room ? The owner of the Chessboard, and therefore the one who uses me and my buddies ?"

Timid nodded slowly.

"Uh ? What's that ? Cat got your tongue or what ?" playfully asked the Bishop.

His interlocutor bit her lower lip out of embarrassment.

"Hum, n-no, I just… hum… felt like n-nodding… that's i-it…"

That's when her merry visitor burst out laughing.

"Eh eh eh eh eh, I-was-just-puuulliiiing your leeeeeg ! Forgive me ?" he said on the most cheerful tone.

She nodded again, then recalling his previous joke, decided to voice her reply : "Y-Yes… no problem…"

But the chess piece decided to tease that shy girl a tad more, and therefore…

"You sure ? Coz if you don't like my humor… or if I embarrass you too much… don't hesitate to let me know, K ?" he continued.

The introverted girl had mixed feelings about her visitor's behaviour : on one hand, she did appreciate his nicety, his being kind to her, but on the other hand, she did feel slightly uneasy when he joked with her, teased her. The fact is that she wasn't used to someone having fun with her directly, as it was almost always with Raven that this happened (**cough** Beast Boy **cough**). The only one joking with her and teasing her in person was Happy… and it wasn't that often, because the other emoticlones regularly scolded the happy-go-lucky of their group for bothering her timid sister !

"N-No… really… it's o-okay… you don't embarrass m-me too m-much…" she replied.

"But I still do… a bit ?" he insisted.

She licked her lips, feeling somewhat cornered : yes, he did make her slightly uncomfortable, but **only slightly** , and she honestly didn't feel like telling him that and displeasing him, or have him feel guilty for incommoding her.

"W-Well… hum… I-I don't know…" she ended up uttering, trying to avoid admitting it.

The Bishop made a large grin.

"Come ooooon, Timid, no need to be… timid with me, uh uh ! You can tell me anything, you know ! So stop being so afraid and… spit it out !"

Timid hesitated a bit longer… then gave in.

"M-Maybe just a bit… just a l-little little bit… but it's okay, r-really… please don't get m-mad at me !"

The Bishop burst out laughing.

"But nooooooo, I'm not mad at you, not even the slightest, my shy friend ! Don't you believe such a thing, dear, coz it's wrong, and wrong, and wrong again. I'm not angry at you, and if you're the introverted type, while I'm the extraverted one, it's only logical that I'm gonna make you uneasy. So, you see, I toooootally understand your reaction, mind you ! And so (again), you have nothing to fear, no reason to believe you upset me. Okidoki, Timid ?"

She stared at him wide-eyed.

"Mmmmmh… not okidoki ?" he immediately asked her.

"Hum… E-Excuse me but… wh-what does 'okidoki' mean ? I have n-never heard that w-word before… that's why I d-didn't answer you…"

The Bishop smiled.

"Ah, okay… Yeah, I guess you're right, T. !" Then he stopped and observed her. "Uh, say, d'you mind if I call you 'T.' ? Or d'you prefer me to use your complete name ? Mmmmh ?"

She sketched a shy smile.

"T. is o-okay… You can c-call me that if you w-want…" she replied softly, for once appearing less fearful.

Her vis-à-vis visibly appeared pleased of her decision.

"Well, thank you, T. !" (she nodded and slightly bowed) "So yeah… hum, what was I saying again ?!"

He sure looked awkward in this very minute.

"W-We were speaking about 'okidoki' and you were telling me that I was right… well, if I r-remember correctly…"

"AAAAAAAh yeeeees, of course ! That's what I was saying ! Anyway, 'okidoki' is my own fanciful manner to say 'okay'. So, to sum it up, you don't have to dread that you upset me, coz, Girl, you definitely did **N'T** ! How about that, T. ? Does it make you feel any better ? I hope so !"

She nodded with a tentative smile.

He smirked at her before commenting : "Y'know, we _**really**_ have to find that cat and take back that tongue he stole from your mouth !"

Timid felt herself blush as she realized why he was saying this. But she also knew that she couldn't help it, that she had to be silent every now and then, following her ever so discreet nature.

Yet she felt like she should still apologize… also given her modest nature.

"I-I'm really sorry… it's just that I… I c-can't resist being s-silent from time t-to time… I don't al-always talk… but please ex-excuse me if it d-displeased you…"

The Bishop burst out laughing.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ! You know, T., I really like you ! Like you _a lot_ , actually…"

He winked at her and the Grey Cloak felt her blush return, but more intensely.

"Th-Thank yy-ou v-very m-much…" she stuttered, even more than she did before.

"Eh eh eh, more seriously, yes, I really like you but not like you might have thought… given your deep-red face !"

She swallowed her saliva, wishing she could either disappear or bury herself in the ground. In fact, she would gladly have morphed into a mouse and started burrowing as rapidly as possible, to vanish beneath the soil and escape all that unease the Bishop was giving her.

But, weirdly enough, said unease, although making her uncomfortable, _also_ made her happy. It was a _nice_ embarrassment, a pleasant one, not a disagreeable one. And while she wished he didn't make her face flush like that, she still couldn't help considering his teasing her and joking around… well, actually pretty sweet and kind to her. She could feel, deep inside of her little timid heart, that the comical being opposite her was laughing _with_ her, and not _from_ her. She really did feel that he was sincerely doing it, and respected her, and certainly didn't want to mock her… because she sensed that he definitely would avoid hurting her !

"I enjoy your company because I like to pull legs and see how people react… and your reactions amuse me ! But don't go concluding from this that I make fun of you ! Please don't, don't, don't, dear Timid, or you would break my heart ! And I know that you don't want to break my heart… or do you ?"

"N-No !" she hurriedly replied.

"Uh uh, just teasing you again. Sorry, I can't seem to help it, hi hi hi ! Anyway, should you break my heart… you'd have to clean away all its pieces, so better not do it, eh ?"

Another wink, and a shy smile opposite.

"No, I wouldn't dare to make fun of you, my dear ! I would do that to someone really unbearable, someone despicable, the kind one can hardly stand… but not a person as nice and sweet as you, my dear !"

This time, Timid blushed so furiously that even Rage's cloak or eyes would have looked "pale" in comparison.

"….Th-Thank y-you s-so m-much…" she uttered in a barely audible voice.

The Bishop had actually managed to hear it, but decided to play with her a bit further.

"Mmmmh ? What was that ? Did you by chance say something ? I'm sorry, I didn't hear it…" he said, sounding serious, yet with a mischievous sparkle inhabiting the apples of his eyes.

Timid "ate her lips" (i.e. curled both lips to the inside, making them disappear), feeling her blush keep her so hot… ahem, I mean, so _warm_ ! (coz Timid… hot… hum, not that much…)

"I-I just said : th-thank you so m-much… for y-your nice c-compliments to m-me…"

The Bishop took a careful look at her, and what seemed to be radiating from him was…

Hum, yeah, what was it exactly, uh ?

Was it just nicety ?

Actually… on closer inspection of the chess piece's facial expression… it looked like…

Sweetness ?!

Well, in fact… looking even closer at his face…

Ah yes, that's it :

TENDERNESS !

The Bishop was observing her in an affectionate fashion !

Guess how even more shy this made poor Timid…

"Oh, but don't mention it, really ! I mean, I'm grateful to you for your being grateful to me… hum, dunno if you catch my drift, there… but anyway, I thank you for thanking me, T. … hum, eh eh, I'm not making things simpler, expressing myself so confusedly, right ?... Well, okay, let's put it that way : you don't need to thank me, coz you definitely deserve such compliments ! You are very nice, sweet, good-looking… so it's normal that I would be that kind to you ! Okidoki ?"

She let her eyes sink to the ground, hoping it would help hide her terrible blush, which had evolved to the point even planet Mars wasn't _**that**_ red !

"O-Okidoki…" she said in a little voice.

"Uh ? Excuse me ? What did you say ?" he said, this time meaning it and not trying to tease her by making her say it again (he really hadn't heard it).

"I-I was simply r-repeating what you had s-said…you know, o-okidoki… you told m-me it meant 'okay'…"

"Ah, okid… uh, I mean : OKAY !"

The seconds that followed seemed almost strange, because… there was silence !

Long, long seconds of silence… with the Bishop staring at Timid, and Timid shyly throwing an occasional glance at the Bishop… and immediately blushing and looking away after noticing she was intensely observed !

It was the first time since the beginning of their conversation that there was this lull, with none apparently knowing what to say next. As if they both dreaded to utter something stupid or shocking. Or found nothing more of interest to share with each other.

You would expect the chess piece to be the one resuming their talk, wouldn't you, dear reader ? You know, because of the emoticlone's excessive shyness…

And you would be… wrong.

Incredible yet true, it was the introvert girl who decided – for yes, Timid CAN exceptionally decide something…! – to reopen the "communication channel".

"Uh. B-Bishop ? C-Can I ask you a question ?"

"Well… you just asked me one, didn't you ?" he playfully replied, winking.

A shy yet smile lit up her face.

"Y-Yes, I-I know… but I wanted t-to ask you a d-different question… i-if that's okay w-with you…"

"Ah ah ! I was just teaaaaaasing you again ! Sorry, I really can't help it !"

"I-It's fine… so what I w-wanted to ask you i-is… why are you h-here ?"

Her vis-à-vis seemed to give it a thought, and therefore be serious, for the first time in a while.

It seemed almost… weird to see him behave that seriously !

But it allowed Timid to NOT feel uneasy or embarrassed, for the first time in a while, and therefore cease blushing and overheating…

And that was a relief to her.

"In fact… to be honest… I really don't know what I'm doing here." he eventually answered.

She blinked at him, and for once appeared surprised rather than shy or ashamed.

"Th-That's another joke of y-yours, i-isn't it ?" she cautiously asked, with always that secret dread of displeasing him or hurting his feelings.

The face of the stone being reflected his surprise, but he quickly pulled himself together and burst out laughing.

"Oh oh oh, always a good laughter with you, Timid ! And I say this not to make fun of you, but in all sincerity ! But no, I promise you I'm not joking on this one. I'm serious : I swear I really don't know what I'm doing here. _Why_ I'm here. I was on the Chessboard and… suddenly… I reopened my eyes and found myself in here. Wherever 'here' is. So I actually ignore how I came to this place… and why I did ! I'm at a loss about all this. I don't have more info than that. Sorry if I can't explain more."

It was Timid's turn to get thoughtful.

"N-No, it's okay, r-really. I believe you." she finally uttered. "B-But I'm still puzzled about a-all this. I-It looks like someone t-teleported you here, since it wasn't y-you who got here w-willingly. B-But _who_ teleported you and for _what reason_ ? I-It's really bizarre…"

They were silent for a minute, pondering that odd issue, but weren't able to come up with any plausible answer.

And finally…

"Hum… tell me, Timid… and for once, I'll be serious… like what, I CAN be serious, eh eh… hum, sorry for laughing… serious, we said… well, _**I**_ said… so, hum… uh, what did I want to say, again ? … ah yes : do you happen to by chance possibly have any potential idea about how I perhaps could leave this place, maybe ?"

The Grey Hood merely stared at him blankly.

"I-I did not understand e-everything you s-said…" she ended up admitting.

The mineral creature, slightly uneasy, would have scratched his head, should he have had arms.

"Eh eh, 'kay, I'm gonna eat humble pie here and concede that I didn't put it in the simplest way. So, to make a long and complicated question shorter : do you know how to get out of here ?"

"O-Oh yes ! Naturally I do ! Y-You must find the forbidden d-door and step th-through it !"

"Yeah right… but as you can see, I can't move. I've got no feet to walk, and as you maybe recall what I said, I certainly got teleported here. But I cannot leave by my own means… as I can't move on my own ! I can only if I'm being moved, exactly how it happens on the Chessboard, with Raven grabbing me and putting me on a different square. But in there, nobody can grab me and put me elsewhere. Not even you : you're not strong enough !"

Then he quickly added : "No offense intended, eh !"

"N-No offense taken", the shy girl comforted him. "I-I understand the nature of the p-problem. But I think I am s-still the one who c-can help you. Because I can u-use magic to teleport you back to the Chessboard."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the chess piece bulged so much that they looked that they would pop out of their sockets any second.

"Wait ? You're… you're saying you CAN teleport me ?! But… but then, is it you who teleported me here ?!" he asked in a rushed voice.

Timid took a step back, swallowing her saliva.

"N-No, it wasn't m-me. P-Please don't be m-mad at m-me. Please."

And to anyone knowing Timid well enough, it wasn't difficult at all guessing that the poor girl was about to turn around and run for cover… because it was all too obvious that she dreaded an antipathetic reaction from her interlocutor ! And she therefore feared that he would "explode" in a boiling mass of wrath and resentment… which however didn't make any sense, considering how sweet he had been to her up to then !

And she was dead wrong, as you will see… well, not even in a minute, but right now, actually.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ! But nooooo, I'm absolutely NOT angry at you, Timid ! So be at rest, my friend ! I'm cool with that, and I'm not going to jump at your throat… even more because I have NO feet to do such a thing !"

She observed him cautiously.

"A-Are you s-sure y-you are n-not a-angry a-at m-e ?"

Poor of her, fear and stress made her stutter even more often.

"Yes, I'm sure. You have my word. And if I break my promise, I'll end up in Hell's furnace !" He still sounded funny as he uttered that last part. "And so, it's not you who teleported me here ?" he asked again.

"N-No. I-I swear i-it wasn't m-me !" she promised him.

He chuckled.

"And I believe you, mind you. So we'll never know who did, I guess. But… you said you could teleport me back to the Chessboard, right ?"

"Y-Yes."

"So, if you don't mind, I really would like you to do that for me. It's not that I'm getting bored here, but… I kinda miss my chess friends, you see !"

She nodded, and a smile returned on her lips.

"Y-Yes, I see. A-And I will be happy t-to help you r-return among your f-friends."

The Bishop smiled back.

"Timid, I would like you to know that… it was nice meeting you and chatting with you. _**Really**_ nice. I mean it. You're a sweet girl, you know, and… well… I will miss you ! And I know I'll be thinking of you once I'm back where I belong !"

This time, the unhardened teen got a face so red that nothing seemed redder !

"….."

She was so moved by the kindness of her vis-à-vis that the emotion now even paralyzed her vocal folds.

"You alright, Timid ? Your face is… so red ! I would gladly bring you a glass of water, but, you know, with a body like mine… neither feet to go fetch water nor hands to carry it in a glass… kinda difficult, eh…"

He winked at her, and this did nothing to ease her up.

Eventually, though, words found a way out of her throat and through her lips.

"I-I d-don't k-know w-what t-to s-say… y-you a-are s-so k-kind t-to m-me… I-I'm n-not u-used t-to s-such k-kindness… th-the o-only th-thing I-I c-can th-think o-of i-is th-thank y-you… b-but th-that's h-hardly e-enough t-to th-thank y-you p-properly f-for y-your k-kindness !"

Poor Timid, stuttering so much out of emotion and pleasure… kinda difficult to decipher, don't you think, dear reader ?

"Oh, don't mention it ! You really deserve all my nicety, you know ! Coz you're very nice indeed ! I haven't exaggerated anything about you ! And it was an honour meeting you… and making you blush that much !"

He winked then guffawed… and the shy female blushed even more !

"Th-Th-Th-Th-Thank y-y-y-y-y-you s-s-s-s-s-so m-m-m-m-m-m-much !" was her ultimate effort after several failed attempts to utter anything.

"No problem. I wish you all the best, Timid, and it was a pleasure meeting you. Goodbye, my dear, and take good care of you…"

Still too moved to answer, she merely nodded and had a hard time holding his sweet gaze, forcing herself NOT to look down at her feet, out of embarrassment.

He gently chuckled and kept on gazing at her fondly.

"G-Goodbye, Bishop. It was also a p-pleasure knowing you. Take care as well a-and I will never forget you a-and your kindness and your good m-mood. Again, thank you so much for being s-so nice to me."

Her almost normal speech showed well enough that she has regained control over her emotion (A/N : the emoticlone regaining control over her emotion… eh eh, yeah, I know…)

Timid raised her arms, hands directed at the chess piece, then recited a formula, and the Bishop got surrounded by a white light which grew always bigger and brighter, until it made the chess piece disappear from sight, "swallowed" by the intense glare.

And once the light vanished… the stone creature was gone !

The quiet emotion stared for a long while at the precise spot where the Bishop had been, and eventually turned around to go and find something to do, starting to walk…

… with a lonely tear running down her cheek.

 **#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#\\#**

 **Okay, this indeed did take an eternity to write, I admit it !**

 **And the fact is that I'm not even that pleased about the result… I don't know, I find it… eeerrrr, dull ? Monotonous ? Dunno, but I deem it inferior to what it could have been. But now it's out, and nothing can be changed…**

 **I wanted to oppose Timid's shyness to the Bishop's bubbly and joking nature, and naturally planned to have that comical chess figure make the Grey Cloak uneasy and embarrassed quite a few times. And that resulted in a few nice blushes… and let me tell you that Timid is really cute when she blushes, and…**

 **Timid : P-please, D-Dixxy, s-stop ! Y-You're g-going t-to m-make m-me b-blush e-even m-more th-than B-Bishop**

 **Me : Okay, okay… but you're cute anyway !**

 **Timid : **** **remains silent and blushes hard****

 **Well, anyway, there it was. Good or not that good, there it was.**

 **Y'know, by the end of this week (between May 26** **th** **and 28** **th** **), I'm gonna have in my possession all the Prince LP's of his great era (which, to me, ranges from DIRTY MIND to LOVE SYMBOL, and whose center and therefore finest period covers years from 1999 to SIGN O' THE TIMES) ! Ain't that awesome ? Well, awesome... for me, eh, since ya guys probably don't give a $#!T… ;D Just kidding, eh ! Anyway, I'm so pleased to have his albums back (I used to have almost all of those released between 1982 & 1992) ! Now I wanna still purchase EMANCIPATION, his three-cd's album, which I found pretty cool, and that'll be it ! Cherry on top of the cake ! :DDDD**

 **Okay, I guess I'm gonna stop here, coz this chappy here is way longer than intended, so… time to braaaaaaaaake for goooooood !**

 **Thanxxxx 4 reading, take care, B happy, don't work 2 much… & till… ahem… hopefully soon ? B all fine, Folxxxx !**

 **Peace, Love, Ecstasy !**

 **:Dxx**


	8. Let's go to the (tea shop) BISHOP !

**Howdy ya'll !**

 **Hope U R all doing fine these days... but U honestly should B, since school's almost over, WOOT !**

 **Did U watch the BET Prince tribute, where Sheila E rocked and funked the house ? Epic, as someone said ! & that finale, wz Sheila raising Prince's guitar 2 the sky & all pointing their fingers in the same direction... Damn, leaves U speechless, emotionally speaking ! Grandiose, no other words ! From where he is, the Purple 1 must have been smiling all the way...**

 **I did buy his tripl LP EMANCIPATION & deem it a very good album. Disc II is IMHO the best, the most delicate 1, wz several moving songs (it was inspired by his love for Gregory and Maite). Disc I is pretty cool 2, notably with JAM OF THE YEAR, WHITE MANSION, RIGHT BACK HERE IN MY ARMS... Disc III is the least interesting, wz some hip-hop-influenced stuff… bleeeeh ! But all in all, an excellent opus, so i Prince fan, I recommend it 2 U !**

 **Yes, we'll really miss the Minneapolis genius, the Paisley Park magician, the man who could play all instruments, do splits on demand, who got so many different looxxxx through the years, who was such an immensely talented guitarist, who created such a fine body of work… sorry, of ART, who left such a huge mass of unreleased music – so much, actually, that it has been officially said that it could cover the next 100 years, wz 1 album per year ! – … so basically, 1 of the most important musicians, 1 of the key ARTISTS of this era (…wz David Bowie, naturally ;D) ! Prince Rogers Nelson, hats off 4 U, Ur memory will B cherished, thank U 4 all the fantastic music… may Ur soul rest in Eternal Bliss !**

 **Dear fellows, I also apologize for the long wait 4 this story : had 2 write some French text, so this took a good 3 weexxxx, & then I had holidays, soooooo… long time no read, I know… sorry ! **sheepish grin** **

**Back on track now, & here we go again :**

 **N'joy !**

 **" ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! LET'S GO TO THE (TEA SHOP) BISHOP ! " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? "**

"Eh eh eh, I just can't wait to see her face…!"

Happy was so excited preparing her huge water balloon that she ended up talking aloud, as if there had actually been someone by her side, observing her and listening to her.

In fact, truth to be told, Rude had often been her "partner in crime" when it came down to pranking one of their sisters. She also had a substantial sense of humor, but while Happy's sense of humor was ingenuous, artless, Rude's tended to be wicked, naughty, and it was obvious that the Orange Cloak derived a somewhat depraved pleasure from seeing others get perplexed or angry from the practical joke.

The pink-clad girl had already tricked all of her sisters, in various manners, either on her own or with the help of Rude, but some she knew she would never again try to pull a prank on.

Namely Rage and Knowledge.

The first one because that short-tempered nutcase had almost succeeded in killing her, the second one because of the reaction of all other emoticlones, who all – even Rude ! – had disapproved the "offense" made to their unofficial leader, the wisest of all (Brave had even tried to kick her butt !). Knowledge herself hadn't seemed that upset by the prank – a drawing of pig's face astutely taped up on the back of the yellow cloak - but she really was the only one not to judge Happy severely for her so-called "funny" deed… and the happy-go-lucky emotion certainly didn't want to become estranged from her sisters !

But all of the other sisters were potential targets for Happy's crazy jokes.

And today… the waggish teen had chosen her preferred target, and just imagining the face her sister would pull…

She chuckled to herself as she finally managed to tie her water balloon, a pretty big one actually.

"I was so right to ask Master for a spigot in my domain, uh uh uh !"

She then carefully encased the large blue water-filled sphere in her black power and took off, then turned towards Brave's domain, and giggled one more time at the thought of her green-cloaked sister yelling randomly at the deserted landscape around her, while she herself would be laughing her ass off close-by, with her hand covering her mouth so as not to be heard.

That's when she noticed something unusual in her already unusual landscape, where a pink sky and floating strawberries weren't exactly the least amusing and weird things around…

There was something vertical, something high standing on a hill, in the distance. Like a building or something similar.

"Woaaaaah, what's that stuff over there ? Did someone build a mini-skyscraper in my domain overnight or what ?" Happy asked aloud, as if someone could hear it and reply, and she concluded that self-asking with one of her famous chuckles.

And set out for the place that had drawn her attention in the first place.

She soon landed in front of what appeared to her as a large statue and perplexity briefly replaced her signature smile and "laughing eyes".

"Uh ? What's that and what is it doing here ?" she asked herself aloud, again as if someone would actually turn up and reply to that.

A cylinder at its basis, the statue then evolved as a crafted, carved stone monument which was "crowned" by an almost triangular shape adorned with an horizontal hole on one side, the latter reminding the observer of the similar opening on a helmet's front end, through which the knight could see.

"Okay, someone's willing to pull a prank on the prankster, eh ?" She giggled, then raised her voice to scream : "Come on, Rude, show yourself ! I know you're the one behind this !"

"Oh, there's someone behind me, really ?" asked a voice above her.

A _male_ voice which definitely didn't belong to Rude…

Happy's head shot up in a flash and her eyes widened about the size of saucers… be they flying or not !

Two eyes were staring at her with visible amusement.

Two eyes… on the statue… which didN'T have eyes the minute before… right ?!

"Okay, so either I'm dreaming, or someone's pretty gifted at magic 'round here…" she uttered in an unusual unsettled tone, baffled as she was by both the voice and the eyes.

"Ooooooor… this is REALITY ! Tadaaaaaa !" yelled the statue, using the horizontal hole as a mouth.

"Yeah right… must be dreaming…" continued the Pink Cloak, as if she hadn't heard the other's statement, and rubbed her eyes afterwards as if to chase away what she considered as some hallucination… or a dream.

The staggering speaking stone creature guffawed then talked again to the incredulous one.

"You know, human, I would gladly pinch you to prove that you're NOT dreaming… but thing is, I ain't got no harms !"

And with a quick glance could Happ **y** easil **y** verif **y** the veracit **y** of that statement : the statue indeed had neither arms… nor legs. Only a head and that was it.

 _Only a head… but one that can speak ! For a statue ! Alright, that's total crazy !_

And yet, speaking of craziness… the upbeat emoticlone was quite familiar with it, as she often had **crazy** ideas and pranks !

"I would be glad to get the proof that this is all a dream, or you only a mirage… but a little voice inside of me tells me that this is but the plain old reality…" observed the grey-skinned teen with the beginning of a smile.

"Sure. And you know what, Miss ? You most definitely should listen to that little voice, coz it's totally right : plain old reality, this is for sure ! So accept it, you have to !" replied the other one.

Happy burst out laughing.

"No way ! You speak like Master Yoda ?! Ah ah ah, soooo funny !"

Her vis-à-vis raised an eyebrow.

"Master Yoda…?"

"Yeah, you know, the cool lil' guy from STAR WARS ? The one who trains Luke Skywalker and speaks in reverse mode, like you just did ?"

Blank look from the other side, then another perplexed question.

"STAR… WARS ?!"

Happy's eyes widened.

"WHAT ? You don't know STAR WARS ?! Seriously ?"

A brief pondering the situation, and…

"Ah ah ah ah ah !" guffawed the Pink Cloak. "Yeah right ! You're pulling my leg, aren't you ? You perfectly know what I'm talking about, and just want to take me for a ride, eh ?"

"Uh… but no… sincerely, I - "

"Come oooooooon ! Don't play dumb with me, Mr. Statue ! You wanna make me believe you don't know about STAR WARS… but you know perfectly well, in fact, don't you ?"

A little wink to conclude this.

"But I swear I don't know what you're talk- "

"But come oooooon, really…!"

"Really, NO. I don't know what STAR WARS is."

Happy considered the serious face for seconds, trying to detect some tiny grimace giving away the jest… but couldn't find any !

So eventually, her smile slowly decreased and was replaced by an expression of sheer incredulity.

"You… You're… serious ? You ignore what STAR WARS is ? Like, _for real_ ?" she asked in total disbelief.

"Eh yes, I do. Is that a crime ?" retorted the stone creature in a somewhat mocking tone.

"Not up to now, at least…" jokingly replied Happy, her lips stretching back up again.

"And so, what is STAR WARS ?"

"Oh, it's about one of the _**BEEEEEEEST**_ franchises in cinema history ! I love it !"

"Ah, okay…"

Awkward silence.

And then…

"Hum… by the way… what's your name, weird one ?" asked the mineral being.

"Well, why don't you tell me yours first, since you're after all in my domain and should therefore introduce yourself to the owner of the land, eh ?" retorted Happy with a playful wink.

"I'm the Bishop and I belong to the chessboard… where I should be right now, by the way…"

"Nice to know you, Bishop ! And me, I'm Happy !" shrilled the Pink Cloak.

"That I can see… You certainly _are_ happy. Never seen someone so energetic and upbeat. And what's _your_ name, happy girl ?"

"Well, Happy !"

"Yeah yeah, got it… you're much of a jokester, like me… uh uh… but seriously ? How are you called ?"

"Mmmmmh… with a phone ?"

The Bishop seemed clueless, which made Happy guffaw as she relished his astounded stare, but she eventually decided to light it all up for him.

"I'm called with a phone… by using a phone, if you prefer… got it ?" she tried her best to clarify before resuming giggling.

Quite unexpectedly, the Bishop burst out laughing when he heard the explanation, and both therefore kept on chucking for seconds.

The chess piece finally managed to regain his composure and, amused, observed that tiny human with an unusual sense of humor.

"I guess I won't get to know your name, happy one, mmmh ?" he half said, half asked.

"But my name IS Happy ! It's not just my state of mind, it's not just **what** I am : it's also _**who**_ I am ! I am Happy, like you are Bishop ! So I'm both Happy and happy ! Well, uh, I mean… eh eh…"

But the chess piece had already started howling in laughter, unable to hold back at the unintentional humor the emoticlone had just displayed.

Yeah, that girl definitely _was_ a cool one, which was great : they clearly both were funny and loved joking, even when it wasn't voluntary, like in the present case.

And seeing him laugh so heartily, the grey female couldn't help but follow suit, and thus both were caught in for a good giggling fit.

"So, hum…" started the Bishop once he had finally managed to calm down and escape from laughter's grip "…your name actually IS Happy, uh ? So when you said that you were Happy, that meant it was your identity and not just your mood. Right ?"

The amusing teen gave him a thumb up as she grinned wide at him.

"Funny name, really… and it definitely matches your own nature, so extravert and upbeat ! That's a nice coincidence !" he continued.

"It's actually no coincidence, Buddy : I was named 'Happy' precisely because I embodied the feeling of happiness. I'm not just a girl, I'm also an emotion : happiness ! You see ?"

"Yep, I'm not blind yet…"

New guffaws from the funny duet.

He finally observed her for a moment, then voiced his perplexity… in a funny manner, as always :

"So, hum… you… are an emotion… okaaaaaaaaay… now you're being reaaaaaaally high ! I wanna try that drug too ! Which one was it again ?"

Happy got the giggles once more.

"Ah ah ah… the drug… ah ah ah ah ah… high… ah ah ah ah ah ah ah… good one… ahahahahahahahahahahah… oh my, I'm gonna wet myself if I don't stop laughiiiing !"

And since this is a respectable story, and that I don't want to have any issue with censorship, and that I'm currently writing just whatever rubbish comes to my mind, just know that this funny girl stopped just in time and therefore didn't… hum… you know… do what she was afraid to if she didn't stop laughing !

What are you saying, readers ? "No, we don't know, what is it she didn't do ?" Is that what you just said ?! But yes, you DO know, readers ! Now, come on, I'm not saying it ! You perfectly know what she was about to do and that she didn't ! No, stop making believe you ignore it : you DON'T, readers ! But will you just… ?! I said NO ! I'm NOT saying it !

Now back to the story.

I said : BACK TO THE STORY !

Hum… what was I saying again ?

I mean : …WRITING again ?

Ah yes, that Happy after did not… EH WAIT, NO, I DIDN'T MEAN TO RESUME HERE !

AND NO, I'M **NOT** SAYING IT !

So, hum… where again where we ?

The Pink Cloak did her best to catch her breath after managing to regain control over herself (but only with great difficulty).

"Oh la la… you're TOO funny, Bishop, you know that ?" she said, smiling widely.

"Yup, I 've been told I'm not the grimmest folk round here. But you're not exactly depressing yourself, you know !" he replied jokingly.

"Ah ah, right on the spot ! I'm neither depressing… nor depressive ! I'm more like IMpressive… when it comes to enjoy life and being pleased with it !"

"Nice wordplay, Happy !"

She bowed, making him chuckle.

"You're really one of a kind, Happy, you know that ?"

"Actually, I'm not exactly _one_ of a kind. I've got seven other sisters who also embody emotions. We are called the emoticlones because we are lookalikes / clones who relate to emotions."

"Jeez, that drug you take is damn efficient, no doubt…!"

The cloaked female burst out laughing.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ! Man, I haven't had such a nice day of laughs in a looooong time ! You really are too much, Bishop !"

"No way, YOU're too much, Happy ?"

"Forget it, YOU're too much !"

"I stick to my guns : YOU are !"

"No can do : YOU !"

The chess piece was about to answer, and had opened his mouth for that purpose, when he realized something.

"Hey, is it me or is our sentence getting shorter and shorter ? First there was : "You really are too much, Bishop !" And as we kept on replying to each other, it ended up as : "YOU !" We gradually removed all the words to make it as short as simply : "YOU !" Waow, we're magicians !"

The merriest emoticlone chuckled once more.

"Maybe we are. Well, I actually _am_ , you know. Because I get my powers from Master. She shares them with all of the emoticlones, so my sisters have them as well. So we could say we're all magicians."

"I was about to say something about the quality of your drug, but I'm in fact more interested in the magic. So you _can_ actually perform tricks ?"

After giggling because of the drug part, the grey teen happily nodded.

"Well, when you say 'tricks'… that sounds like a basic magician. It's much more than that. To be honest, it's not just magic, it's actually witchcraft !"

Her interlocutor would have raised an eyebrow… should there have been some above his eyes. So he merely went with a puzzled look.

"Uh… I'm no specialist… but what's the difference between the two ?"

That was a good question.

And because it was, it got Happy into deep thinking, making her for once lose her joyous expression as she focused on the answer to that poser.

Finally her face lit up and her smile, absent during her deep reflection, returned in its full brightness as she figured out a satisfying reply.

"I think I know. What we call a magician will perform simple tricks, and there are always knacks behind them, while sorcerers use **real** magic, without any knacks : they _really_ have powers, and also, their magic is often "dark", because they often summon supernatural entities, such as demons, spirits, ghosts and such. We can do that, because Master is able to and shares those supernatural powers with us all."

The Bishop appeared pretty impressed.

"Waow ! And me who thought you were only a jokester ! You're deeper than I thought !"

"Ah ah, thank you, Bishop ! But there's deeper than me : it's Rude, coz she is such a piggy and eats all the time !"

Happy started to laugh, but for once the Bishop didn't join in.

"She's deeper because she eats a lot ?"

And by merely saying this sentence, he suddenly got it and started laughing too.

"Oh oh oh, deeper… oh oh, yeah… of course, eh eh… how could I miss that… ah ah ah !"

"Ah ah ah… no… no problem… hi hi hi !"

Don't you think these two really get along just fine, eh, readers ?

"Oh gosh, I never get to guffaw that often when on the chessboard !" said the stone creature. "The other chess pieces are too serious for my taste. Well, except for my best friend, the black Bishop. He's got just as much humor as I have. We laugh our asses off when we're set on neighbouring squares, telling each other the silliest jokes ever ! I miss the lad, really !"

"Oh, so there's another Bishop around ?" asked the upbeat emotion.

"Yup. Except I don't know where he is. Did he remain on the chessboard or was he also teleported away, like me, and ended up in another foreign land ?"

"When you say the chessboard… are you talking about the one in Master's room ?"

"Hum… who is that Master you've mentioned two or three times already ?"

"It's the girl we emoticlones, so me and my sisters, belong to. A teenager with violet hair and a blue cloak. Her name is Raven, but we all call her Master out of respect. And, well, the chessboard is in her room. Do you belong to _that_ chessboard ?"

"The girl with the violet hair… yeah, that's her. She plays chess every now and then, and grabs us pieces each in turn and move us about on the board. And she always wins, no matter who her opponent is. She's a very good player. And so she's your… uh… Master ? It sounds like you're some kind of slaves to her…"

Happy chuckled at that unexpected utterance.

"Pffffahahah ! Slaves, really ? Naaaah, we just are her emotions. We are part of her. And this place here is inside of her. It's her mental domain, called Nevermore. And the eight emoticlones, so me and my sisters, shared it in eight parts, each one having her own private part of Nevermore. Dunno if you got it, uh uh !"

"Hum… let's pretend I did, okay ?"

They laughed together, then the Bishop managed to regain seriousness.

"So you're saying that we are inside Raven's head… well, Master's head… well, whatever… (giggle of Happy)… and that you're one of her emotions… and that there are eight emotions in total… uh… wait a sec', I'm lost again (giggle of Happy)… and you shared this land between you eight, right ? That place called… uh… what was it again… Nev' something (giggle of Happy)… yeah ? Dunno if I got half of this correct… (giggle of Happy)… you tell me ?"

After laughing up, the cloaked female nodded with a smile.

"Not bad at all. You're not as silly as you look. Eh eh, don't look so surprised : I was merely pulling your leg ! Love to do that ! Anyway, it's pretty much correct. And this place, inside Master's mind, is called : NEVERMORE !"

"Yeah, that's it : Nevermore. In fact, I perfectly remembered it. I was just pulling your leg as well, Happy."

"Oh no, I don't think you were : you're just saying this to avoid looking embarrassed by your forgetting it. Am I not right, Bishop ?"

"Sooooo untrue : I was really making believe I didn't recall it, but I perfectly did !"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say…" she carelessly replied with a smirk.

"Eh what ? You don't believe me ?" he reacted, pretending to be offended, but a small smile giving away his actual tease.

Happy closed her eyes, then just reopened one of them and stared up at him with fake suspicion.

"Erm… should I, mmmmh ?" she uttered with apparent distrust in her voice, but it really was all an ongoing game between them.

"Of course you should… not !" he exclaimed and exploded again, with her as always following suit.

"Tell me, Happy, my friend…" he began once he was calm again "… you told me you could perform magic. And, well, I never saw any magic before. Do you mind… you know… show me a bit of your awesome power ?"

She grinned wider.

"Awesome ? Why, thank you, I feel flattered !"

He smiled back.

"I'd bow before you if I could… but as you can see… my body is kinda hard to bow…"

She let out a brief laugh.

"No prob' really. And yes, I'll be happy to show you what I can do."

But then she looked thoughtful.

"Hum… what would you like exactly for a spell ? What would you like to see ? Any preference ?"

Not a bad question, all things considered.

He pondered it and eventually made a face (and would he have had shoulders, he would have shrugged).

"Bah, I really don't know. I've got no particular idea. So I guess I'll let you choose. Just do whatever you want. I know I will be impressed by anything you will do !"

Happy made a… happier face than ever.

"Okidoki. I'll see what I can come up with. Mmmmmmmh…"

She gave it a quick thought and her smile widened while her face lit up, as she found what she would do.

The Pink Cloak stretched her arms in front of her and…

" _Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos_ !"

A large fire appeared right in between them.

"Waow ! Good ! Anything else ?" required the chess piece.

"Sure !"

She made the fire vanish and focused again.

" _Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos_ !"

The grass suddenly started to grow, grow grow… higher and higher…

After a while, Happy made a certain gesture and the growth ended.

"Pretty cool ! I like it ! Come on, do some more please !"

"No prob' !"

After mowing the grass with her powers, making it as short as it used to be, she focused again… and a couple of seconds later, the land was drowned in a sea of fog.

"Woot ! Awesome ! I'm impressed ! …Happy ? I can't see you… You still there ?"

A giggle in the fog.

"Of course I am, you silly ! Where would I have gone ? And why ?"

"Ok, that was stupid asking that. I take my question back, your Honor."

Another giggle in the depth of the fog.

"Ah ah, too late, dear lawyer. The court refuses any withdrawal of questions, eh eh !"

His turn to chuckle in the middle of that thick mist.

"Okay, please one more ! I can't get enough of your magical tricks."

Following another action of hers, the fog vanished in a wink.

"You're like a kid, really : you're just as enthusiastic and excited !" she remarked.

"Bishops are kids at heart, that's why they keep on joking and teasing, uh uh !"

The grey teen grinned wider before resuming her focus for another spell.

A few seconds later, the sky briskly darkened and lightning appeared, immediately followed by a rainfall, before the it turned to a hailstorm, which was followed by a snowfall, eventually leading to a sudden clearing of clouds and the return of the sun.

"YAY ! That was fantastic ! Marvelous ! Super ! Hyper ! Loved it ! You're so gifted ! I could watch you do it all day !"

Happy humbly bowed.

"Thank you, thank you ! Glad you liked it ! And if you stay here all day, I can show you many effects of magic !"

The stone creature smiled and was about to answer when he recalled something… and his smile slowly faded away !

"I would be glad to stay here with you for hours… but I will need to get back to the chessboard, at some point ! That's my home after all… and I miss my friend, the black Bishop…"

The emoticlone's grin was immediately replaced by a woebegone expression.

"Oh, I'm… I'm really sorry about that ! I understand how you feel ! I mean, after all, I would feel just as sad and homesick if I couldn't go back to Nevermore : I would miss my sisters and my home place dearly ! So I completely get how you feel !"

"Thanks, Happy ! You're really such a sweet girl !"

She gave a small smile, not one of her large grins, because while she appreciated his words, she couldn't help feeling so sorry for him.

"Ah, if only I could help you…"

And the next second, her face briskly lit up and the huge grin was back on her mouth.

"Hey, wait a sec' ! I think I CAN help you !"

The Bishop's eyes immediately set on her.

"What ? You're sure ? But how ?"

"My magic, Dude ! My magic ! I can use a spell to teleport you back where you came from ! Back to the chessboard ! How about that ?"

It was the turn of the Bishop's grin to return where it so often was.

"You… you could do that ?! _**Really**_ ?!" he asked hopefully.

"Sure I can ! I'm a sorcerer, like Master, so I can teleport objects and persons, just like she does !"

"Awesome ! Oh Happy, you're a genius !"

"Thankiiiiiies ! I can help yoooouuuu ! WOOOOOOOOOT !"

"I second that : WOOOOOOOOOT !"

Happy raised her arms and opened her hands, palms directed at the chess piece… then she paused.

"It's really a pity you gotta go, Bishop, but I understand how you feel. Just know this : it was dead fuuuuuuun spending time with you ! I loved it ! You're too cool, too funny ! I laughed my… hum, you-know-what off with you ! Thanks a bunch for the entertaining moment ! I wish you would return someday, so we can have more top fun together !"

"I'll miss you too, Happy ! You're a hell of an amusing girl, and one sure never gets bored in your company. I would LOVE to return and laugh my… you-know-what off with you again !"

She guffawed at this… and he naturally imitated her ! They laughed heartily for long, long seconds, enjoying each other's humor one last time.

"Take good care of you, Happy, and thank you for being so nice and cool to me ! You rock !"

"You rock even more, Bishop ! And you're welcome : thank YOU for being so funny ! You're the best jokester, really ! Have a happy life on the chessboard !"

They smile wide at each other for a almost a minute, already regretting their parting but remaining positive nevertheless, as it was after all their nature.

Happy finally closed her eyes and recited the formula.

The Bishop got caught in a blinding light that "swallowed" him completely…

…and once the light was gone, so was he !

The merriest of all emotions recalled a few of their crazy antics and couldn't help giggling, all by herself now.

"Ah ah ah, too bad that chess piece isn't an actual human : he would make a super entertainer ! He could have his own one-man show and make people laugh their…" She turned towards you, dear readers, and finished that way : "…yeah, well, you know what, don't you ?"

And she winked at you all who are currently reading this chapter.

Then she caught side of the huge water balloon she had left on the ground, not far from her.

"Eh, I had forgotten about you, dear Water Bomb ! We've got some business to finish, you and me…" She happily chuckled at the thought of her upcoming joke. "And I will dedicate that trick to my dear friend Bishop… I just _know_ he would love it !"

And she laughed again cheerfully as she figured out how much they would giggle together after seeing Brave getting all soaked… and furiously go after her incorrigible prankster of a sister…! ;-)

 **"** **! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " ! " !**

 **"** **? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ? " ?**

 **And there it was !**

 **Hum, lemme just check something…**

 **WHAT ?! I last updated this story in MAY ?! Jesus, that's almost 2 months and a half ?! My oh my, where does time fly to…?**

 **Okay, I'm sorry for the delayed update. But honestly, without fake excuses, I've had much to deal with, job-wise, and I've also had a long holiday during which, eh eh, I couldn't write onward. Soooooo… erm… yeah… this explains that.**

 **So, did you like this one as well ? Don't ya think that Happy and the Bishop were really "made for each other", i.e. destined to get along perfectly well ? Their bond was so obvious to me… I think they are THE example of a nice complicity between emoticlones and chess pieces… don't you think so too ?**

 **Anyway, that was it. Hope it was okay to ya. Please let me know what you think.**

 **And for those who are fond of electronic, I suggest you to listen to Arnaud Rebotini, a French artist who has released under his own name (SOMEONE GAVE ME RELIGION) as well as under his band's name, Black Strobe (BURN YOUR OWN CHURCH, GODFORSAKEN ROADS). You may like what you find… :D**

 **Alright, time to leave you guys, until next time. I'll now dedicate myself to next chapter of INLAND EMPIRE, so you won't read of CHECKMATED ! for a while… but trust me, I** ** _will_** **return… with a vengeance ! Gniark gniark gniark ! (frenzied perverse laughter)**

 **Take care, and may life spoil ya'll… in the nice meaning of 'spoil', naturally ! :D**

 **Peace, Love, Ecstasy !**

 **:Dxx**


	9. She's got such a (quick) QUEEN temper !

**Greetings, Pals !**

 **After a brief aside moment, for the need of INLAND EMPIRE (my dear fellow writer Ana having finally woken up from her holiday hibernation… ;D), here I am, back in full shape, for no less than a new emotional chapter with one of our dear Cloaks.**

 **Who will it be, this time ? Ahaaaaaa,** ** _that's_** **the big question…! Watcha think, uh ? Any guess ? Well, given all the emoticlones who already had their "moment of glory", there aren't that many left, is there ? So it shouldn't be too difficult to find out… And as for the chess pieces involved this time, same thing : given the small number left, you certainly guess who will be facing who, this time…**

 **Now let's see if you got it right…**

 **N'joy !**

 **=#=#=#=#=#=#= SHE'S GOT SUCH A (QUICK) QUEEN TEMPER ! =#=#=#=#=#=#=**

Some people you just shouldn't provoke.

Coz if you do… be ready to put your ass under cover, eh !

Either this, or that nice lil' tender ass of yours will get booted pretty bad…

Fair warning.

But sometimes, you know… one just doesn't know _who_ they are talking to – or messing with – and therefore one doesn't know that there's a mark not to overstep when addressing someone they ignore is a hothead…

Things can go more or less good, depending on the degree of aggressiveness of the "naughty one". But when you get to meet the worst of the siblings… my oh my…!

And who was the worst of the emoticlones, d'ya think ? The shortest-tempered one ?

Yup, none other than the female wearing a red cloak, and eyes of similar colour… except that she had FOUR eyes instead of two ! Four crimson eyes that were the first cause of fright for anyone meeting the creepy teen for the first time, before even hearing her speaking. They looked like tiny "lava pits", and this analogy made it even more frightening.

The second cause of fear for the girl's new interlocutor was her voice, which wasn't a typical female voice, easily recognizable as belonging to a girl. No, her voice was the complete opposite : deep and demonic, distorted so that it had nothing human in it anymore, that voice was the second source of goosebumps after the four red eyes.

And the third cause of uneasiness for the poor "victim" was the teen's extremely choleric nature. Just try contradicting her or criticizing her and… see what comes out of it ! You'll be in for an outburst making an eruption look like a nice "firework" !

Yes, really, it was everything but a cinch dealing with Rage, the most terrible, the most dreadful, the most feared emoticlone ever !

The concerned party was currently meditating at the bottom of the biggest volcano of her volcanic land – her personal domain in Nevermore indeed fitted her temperament, which was also "volcanic" !

There she was, sitting crisscross applesauce right below the large fire mountain that was currently vomiting a thick black smoke from its crater, yes, there she indeed was, with her four red eyes closed, her mouth tightly shut, its jaw tightened, her body slightly tensed as she repeated the three sacred words that her Master did utter in a loop when she was herself meditating.

The vague noise the nearby volcano was making as it spat out its dark plume didn't bother the easily impatient, who was too focused on her mantra to really pay attention to – or even be aware of – her surroundings.

But she _**did**_ notice the loud noise that had reverberated from behind the large mountain opposite the volcano !

Because it was much louder than the volcano's regular humming and giving off fumes, the emoticlone did perceive it despite her concentration… and she therefore briskly opened up her eyes, those tiny dreadful "lava pits" of hers, narrowing them immediately to red slits !

She pricked up her ears, paying attention to any possible sound.

But nothing followed the loud crash that had just resonated through her domain, and the only noise that remained was the regular rumble originating from the "mouth" of the volcano, as it silently released its poisonous smoke towards the dark sky.

Another emoticlone would have dismissed it as a hallucination of some sort, like Happy or Rude – _those damn jerks !_ , as Rage often inwardly called them – but the red-cloaked one was the suspicious kind and didn't let things pass so easily. She would always check about something fishy occurring in her domain, to make sure nothing was troubling its organization. So she somehow seemed like a cop, maintaining order in the surrounding area and punishing all trespassers and wrongdoers.

Rage uncrossed her legs and let her body rise in the hot air.

Once she had reached a certain height, she looked around, searching the landscape for anything out of place, anything unusual, but everything apparently was normal.

Not relying on appearances – did I mention that she was particularly suspicious ? Yes ? Well, here's a confirmation of that ! -, she started forward, flying in a random direction.

After a while, she veered off and flew elsewhere, and after took another turn to head towards another location, before once again changing direction, and veering off another time later, then continuing to some other place…

Not getting a bit dizzy from all those direction changes, dear readers ? ;)

Anyway, Rage finally flew past the mountain opposite the volcano…

… and she stopped dead in her tracks…

… well not in her tracks, since she was _flying_ , but you get the idea, eh ?

You don't ?

Hum, okay, let's forget about it : so she stopped… and that's it !

The four red holes narrowed again as she frowned, gritted her teeth, and some inhuman growl rose from her throat.

There, on the dark ground, was a large shape that the short-tempered emotion knew she had never spotted !

Wasting no time, she dove to the unknown object and soon found herself standing in front of a high stone figure.

Observing it carefully, she saw that the statue had feminine features, with eyes closed, and a crown on top of the head.

"Another trick of Happy…" said Rage after musing about the large mineral object. "That retarded sucker chose to annoy me by dropping a bloody statue in my domain. I'm gonna take that damn stone crap back to _her_ domain."

And with that, the Red Cloak raised her arms, ready to wrap the statue in black energy and carry it away…

… but that's exactly at this moment that the apparently inanimate object _opened_ its eyes !

Rage, focused on the statue's body, hadn't noticed it yet, but just when a black halo appeared around her hands :

"Would you mind showing more courtesy to a sovereign, young human ?"

The loud voice, imbued with obvious upset, surprised the not-so-easily surprised emotion, who didn't jolt – just try to make _**Rage**_ jolt…! – yet still quickly raised her gaze, her four "lava pits" wide open out of amazement (and she wasn't so easily amazed neither !).

"Yes, it's you whom I'm talking to ! You need to show more respect to someone as respectable as the White Queen !" continued the mineral being, not supposed to speak and even less to be alive… yet well alive and speaking, against all logic !

Rage remained silent for a few seconds, trying to collect herself and accept the fact that, after all, yes, some statues COULD be alive and speak !

She swiftly regained her composure and cast a suspicious look at the stone creature almost towering over her.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my domain ?" she grouchily asked the stone creature.

"So much for a nice, polite welcome…" ironically replied the other. "Not even humble greetings, in the presence of a royal figure…"

Rage's eyes narrowed once again and a growl rose from her vocal folds, but she didn't reply anything…yet.

"But since I'm used to being merciful, and that you don't exactly seem the kind to comply, let alone know the etiquette, it looks like I'll have to forgive you." continued the intruder.

The emotion with the short fuse stared with visible hostility at her huge interlocutor, her jaw getting as tense as it possibly could – which should have hurt, but the obstinately grumpy girl had the strange ability of ignoring pain, a gift she always had possessed, and was the only emoticlone to have.

"Who. Are. YOU ?" slowly and menacingly uttered Rage, with a short pause between words.

The statue made a somewhat disdainful snort, wrapping that red-clad human below in her cold gaze, but she answered nonetheless.

"I actually said it before, but I guess I won't have any other choice than to repeat it : I'm the White Queen of the Chessboard. You've got your answer. But customs require that one introduces himself or herself first, which you didn't do. So you'll have to rectify your mistake behind time and now let me know about your own identity."

"Can't you talk normally, so that I understand it straightforward ?!" retorted the now furious emotion.

Sigh from the Queen.

"Put differently : I told you who I am, would you tell me who _you_ are ?"

" **That's** clearer !" the grey-skinned one remarked in a sententious voice, which had the royal figure roll her eyes upward. "I'm Rage, and **you** are in **my** domain ! So what are you doing here ?"

But the chess piece didn't reply and instead focused on the girl's reply to her question.

"Rage ? Please don't tell me _that's_ your name !"

It was the mocking tone on which this was pronounced, rather than the content itself, that really angered the irascible teen even more.

"What's wrong with the name 'Rage' ? Do you find it funny, by chance ?" the Red Cloak let out as she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, ready to chastise that impudent statue, no matter that she was a queen.

The unintended offender considered the next event to occur and concluded that things could take a pretty bad turn if she didn't do anything to calm down that testy girl who apparently was unable to pronounce a single sentence without anger…

"For your information, I do NOT find it funny, but I'm rather befuddled about the name since I never heard anybody bear it."

Rage raised a brow.

"Befuddled ? What does that mean ? Can't you use simple words, like anyone else ?!"

Another sigh of upset from the blue blood.

"It means : bewildered, perplexed, confounded, mystified, puzzled, confused. I trust you do know the meanings of at least **one** of these words, don't you ?"

Again some perceptible disdain in the Queen's irked remark… which Rage sensed. She might not have as much glossary as Knowledge, but she definitely wasn't stupid and could tell when one wasn't respecting her, from the way the person spoke.

"Stop talking to me like I was dumb !" the emoticone half-shouted, her forefinger accusingly raised and pointing vaguely in the direction of her vis-à-vis.

The Queen felt always more and more annoyed from that "hot talk", with that choleric human continuously getting ticked off. She wanted nothing else than go back to the Chessboard, and quickly, as quickly as possible !

"For heaven's sake, don't be constantly so touchy ! I can't say anything without you getting irritated ! How are we supposed to communicate if you can't remain calm ?" she told Rage.

The latter wouldn't let anybody tell her off, especially not a stranger.

"But have you heard HOW you talk to me ? Your tone ? Your words ? Does that sound respectful to you ? What am I due to do ? How should I react ? Just let you talk down to me, without reacting ?"

The crowned one didn't expect such a "firework" of questions, because the red-cloaked teen usually was in exclamatory mode (!), rather than interrogative mode (?). Her only questions up to now were related to words she didn't understand, but that was it. And that's when, all of a sudden, she let out no less than seven questions in a row ! Go figure…

"Please don't overheat once again and let me answer you without cutting me or yelling at me ! I didn't mean to disrespect you, but I honestly couldn't guess that you ignored what 'befuddled' meant. So perhaps I was somewhat sharp in my reply…"

"You definitely WERE !" cut Rage.

"Hey, what did we agree about ? That you should not cut me !" angrily protested the Queen.

"Humpf, that's what _you_ asked for… but I never said I agreed with that ! In fact, you didn't even let me reply to that request of yours !" pertinently pointed out the four-eyed emoticlone.

The Queen made a grimace of impatience.

"Alright, alright, let's forget about this ! But I ask you not to interrupt me while I'm still talking. You can make a remark at the end of my speech. Is that acceptable for you ?"

The grumpy emotion made a kind of pout before giving her answer.

"Let's admit I'm not against it…"

That reply didn't please the Queen, but the latter decided to just let it go, to avoid some useless tension between the two (who were already not getting along too good, to say the least, and wished nothing else than seeing the other gone !)

"Hum… well I think I haven't got much of a choice here, and must accept it that way, if I intend to pursue…"

Ô miracle : Rage didn't object, didn't even react to that, for once renouncing to her fit of pique… which was as seldom as were witty remarks in the mouth of Beast Boy !

"So, like I said, I never meant to willingly hurt your feelings… but I couldn't guess that you would get so… hum, whatever."

"Get so **what** ?" inquired Rage.

"It doesn't matter. I think we are different and not meant to get along…" said the Queen, trying to confuse the issue.

But the short-tempered one wasn't ready to drop her question anytime soon.

"Get. So. What ?" she slowly repeated.

"Get so easily offended ! There, you've got your answer ! Are you happy now ? My gosh, how stubborn you can be !"

Did I mention that Rage was touchy to the extreme, and that a trifle was more than enough to make her irate… more than she was in general ? I didn't ? Okay, now this oversight is fixed… and you are now warned, dear readers : NEVER mess with "Four Eyes" ! (hum, careful though, coz "four eyes" can also refer to someone wearing glasses, hence the possibility to make a confusion with Knowledge, eh !)

Am I babbling too much here, guys ? I am ? Okay, shutting it right away ! **zip it up**

Rage's four red slits opened more as she gritted her teeth even more firmly than usual.

"I THINK I HAVE TOLD YOU TO NOT LACK RESPECT TO ME ! SO WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME STUBBORN ? THAT'S PRETTY IMPOLITE, IN CASE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE !" yelled the ranting girl, angrier than ever.

The blue blood didn't like the tone and loud volume of the utterance, but she disliked even more the final part of the speech, which was somewhat acrimonious (Rude sure used irony, but she wasn't the only one from whom Rsaven drew her legendary sarcasm…)

"You can call me impolite if you want, but I don't think that screaming is exactly being polite…"

The Queen therefore responded to irony… with irony as well ! Fighting fire with fire, best way of tension escalation ever… (even won a gold medal in Trouble Contest in some distant land, dunno which one again…)

"I'M SCREAMING BECAUSE _YOU_ ARE BEING SO FUCKING SCORNFUL, YOU SNOOTY LITTLE PEST !" yelled Rage.

"PARDON ME ?! REPEAT THAT IF _YOU_ DARE !" shouted back the Queen.

"YOU HEARD ME ! AND BESIDES, _YOU_ ARE SCREAMING TOO HERE !"

"I'M SCREAMING BECAUSE _YOU_ ARE MAKING ME, WITH YOUR RUDENESS !"

" _YOU_ WERE THE FIRST ONE BEING RUDE, WITH THAT 'STUBBORN' COMMENT !"

"BECAUSE _YOU_ ARE STUBBORN INDEED !"

"AND _YOU_ ARE SCORNFUL, WHICH IS WORSE !"

"AND _YOU_ … _YOU_ … WELL, _YOU_ …"

"Pfffft, broken record…!" concluded the emoticlone, suddenly dropping her loudness.

The Queen was lost for words, wondering how she could at best express her upset, and Rage was making fun of her, switching from wrath to irony, which induced a change of tone and sound volume.

As a result, the eyes of the royal figure widened, but not out of surprise : out of indignant dander, with a fixed stare that basically hinted that, if looks could kill, then the grey-skinned girl would be dead meat right this second !

"What ? Wanna slaughter me, maybe ? It'll be difficult… without arms !" Rage said in a smooth, unctuous voice, smirking, her fit of anger suddenly over, which was most unusual for her – she indeed usually remained livid for quite a while.

"I've never in my entire life met someone as terribly stupid as you. And as ugly too, with those four red eyes." said the chess piece in her coldest voice.

Rage had unexpectedly quieted down, but the two insulting adjectives in her interlocutor's speech insidiously poked the embers of her died-down wrath, and…

"Have you taken a good look at yourself lately ? NO arms, NO legs, an awful grey body of a dull shape, and a laughable jewel on your head… _**YOU**_ look really ugly and ridiculous ! So shut up and go hide yourself !"

"HOW DARE YOU TALK THAT WAY TO A QUEEN, YOU ILLITERATE PEASANT ?!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT 'ILLITERATE' MEANS, BUT I DO KNOW I'M NOT THAT ANYWAY, AND NOT A PEASANT NEITHER ! AND STOP SCREAMING, SINCE _**YOU**_ COMPLAINED I WAS SCREAMING, EARLIER !"

"I'M SCREAMING BECAUSE YOU PROVOKED ME. SO SERVES YOU RIGHT !"

"JUST STOP SCREAMING ALREADY, YOU DUMBASS !"

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH, PEASANT ! AND I'LL DO WHAT I PLEASE !"

"IF YOU CONTINUE SCREAMING AND INSULTING ME, I SWEAR I'M GONNA DESTROY YOU !"

"VIOLENCE, ALWAYS VIOLENCE ! THAT'S ALL YOU KNOW, PEASANT !"

Rage was about to retort when something came to her mind.

She closed her four eyes for a few seconds, and the Queen was taken aback by the sudden calming down of the fiery emotion.

And when Rage reopened her four tiny "lava pits", the stone creature felt that something unpleasant was just about to occur.

This ominous feeling was confirmed by the next words of the violet-haired female.

"You called me 'peasant' one time too much, "Your Majesty"…."

The four menacing eyes narrowed at the intruder, while her jaw contracted and hands tightened into fists.

The Queen wasn't used to feeling concerned, let alone worried or even frightened. She was always so self-confident, persuaded she was superior to the other… and this time, she had met her match in the person of that untamable girl… and said girl was presently looking _and_ sounding extremely threatening !

And so, this time… this time for once… the Queen unexpectedly lost her self-confidence, and began to experience that uneasy emotion she had never felt :

Fear.

Which went up another notch when Rage slowly raised her arms, her red eyes now shining even redder, and just as slowly pronounced three words she had never heard : " _Azarath Metrion Zinthos_ "…

Black abruptly appeared around her hands and then moved to the palms, which were turned to the chess piece, where it continuously gathered there for a minute.

The Queen was now disquieted by what she saw, and although she normally wouldn't do this, she decided to exceptionally show low profile.

"Listen… I … I am… I am sorry."

Rage didn't reply.

Twin black orbs were now hovering in front of her palms… and started growing bigger.

Her "Majesty", like the Red Cloak had ironically called her, felt more and more worried as she saw it all happen. All this couldn't be good. No way it could.

"I'm really sorry. I'm serious : I AM sorry !"

The livid teen didn't even bat an eyelash.

The black orbs were getting bigger, bigger, bigger...

"Look, I apologize for everything I told you !" almost screamed the Queen, now extremely afraid. "I take it all back ! I was wrong and… and… and please don't hurt me !"

Nothing showed that Rage had actually heard anything, as she remained as motionless as… a statue, therefore like the Queen ! (Pretty ironical, eh ?)

The orbs were now huuuuuuuge… and all the more frightening !

The blue blood was officially panicking, both because she received no reply from Rage and because she saw the dark energy spheres become so big and threatening.

Well, _especially_ for the _second_ reason mentioned.

If the "crowned head" had had any saliva inside her mouth, like humans, she definitely would have swallowed it right this minute and thus gulped out of anxiety.

But she hadn't.

And so she didn't.

Yeah, okay… that was dumb… hum, yeah… **cough cough**

Anyway…

"I TOLD YOU I'M SORRY ! I REGRET WHAT I DID ! SO PLEASE DON'T DO WHAT YOU WANT TO ! DON'T HURT ME ! I'M SORRY ! WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY ?"

Panic continued to swell inside her, as there was still no apparent reaction from the red emoticlone…

… that is, until the orbs suddenly vanished !

Rage then slowly lowered her arms, as the royal character felt a wave of relief wash over her, similar to a cool and gentle breeze in the stifling heart of the blazing summer (note to myself : if this story's a flop, I can still reinvent myself as a poet…)

There was an oppressing silence as Rage intensely gazed at the Queen, her eyes still narrowed, lightly frowning, mouth tightly shut and very slightly bent downward, arms now back under her cloak, from which only her head emerged.

The Queen didn't like that long silence.

Because it suggested that perhaps…

…perhaps her vis-à-vis was up to no good again.

And by simply imagining this, the once pompous creature who governed the white troops on the Chessboard now felt vulnerable… and definitely unsafe ! In fact, she would maybe even have preferred to be prisoner in the camp of the black pieces rather than facing that psychotic four-red-eyed deep-and-distorted-voiced violet-haired grey-skinned red-cloaked monster !

She dreaded the worst… but quite improbably, it was the best that happened !

Yet it didn't happen immediately.

The first step was Rage's question :

"So you say you're… sorry ?"

The voice was cold, mistrustful, as if implying something like _you better not screw with me, Your Majesty, or else…_

And thankfully for her, said Majesty didn't feel like screwing with the terrible Rage.

"I am ! I am sorry ! Yes, I swear I am !" quickly uttered the blue blood, doing her best to sound as convincing as she possibly could.

"You swear you are…" slowly repeated the emoticlone, as if trying to convince _herself_.

"I do ! I do !"

"Mmmmmmmh… I don't know if I can trust you… can I, mmmmh ?"

The tone still expressed distrust, yet with a possibility of believing it all. And that meant that the crowned one had to work hard to indeed persuade the oversuspicious teen.

"Yes, you can ! Trust me, you **can** !"

There was again a lasting moment of muteness, with the two interlocutors staring at each other, one with latent aggressiveness, the other with visible fear, as edgy as she could be.

Finally, Rage's mouth arched upward, one corner higher than the other, in the typical ironic smile.

"You're not talking so loud anymore, Your Majesty, are you ?" she said in a suddenly smooth voice.

The Queen said nothing but felt like glaring at that little pest… yet refrained to do so, because looking askance at that scary girl might bring the consequences she was trying to avoid.

"I think I can forgive you, after all…" the Red Cloak said in a tone she purposely made merciful, but the sequel of her speech sounded more like a warning : "Guess that will teach you a lesson : not to mess around with me…"

Needless to say that the royal figure felt her ire return when she heard how patronizing the demonic being spoke.

But Rage didn't let the stone creature make any remark and continued on a less smooth tone than before, but not as terrible as her first utterances were :

"By the way, Your Majesty, you still haven't told me what you're doing in _**my**_ domain…"

There was a significant emphasis on the 'my', something almost threatening.

"To be honest, I actually don't know how I ended up in _**your**_ domain…"

The Queen had repeated the emphasis made by Rage, obviously to be ironic about it. Which tended to imply that her fear was starting to "fade away" and was replaced by upset.

"You'd better not play it wry with me, you know. And also avoid to take me for a fool." the emoticlone slowly said, but in a lower, deeper voice than usual, making it clear that she was close to getting wroth yet still able to hold her anger… for now.

"I'm not taking you for a fool !" protested the statue-looking creature.

"Yes, you are !"

"I am not !"

"So you're saying that claiming that you don't know how you arrived in this place is NOT taking me for a fool ?! Is that what you're claiming ?!"

"I really don't know, it's **true** !"

That was it. Rage couldn't hold it anymore.

"STOP PRETENDING THAT YOU DON'T KNOW ! HOW COULD YOU _**NOT**_ KNOW HOW YOU CAME HERE ?! YOU WANT ME TO BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE BROUGHT YOU HERE WHILE YOU WERE ASLEEP OR SOMETHING ?!"

The Queen may have been very very afraid of Rage not so long ago, but things had just changed, and the crowned one was back to her anger, and this time it was a rightful anger… because she _**was**_ sincere and indeed ignored how she had ended up in that place she was totally unfamiliar with !

"LOOK, MISS KNOW-ALL, WHETHER YOU BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I'M REALLY UNAWARE OF WHO BROUGHT ME HERE AND HOW. I DIDN'T **SEE** HOW I ARRIVED HERE : ONE MINUTE I WAS ON THE CHESSBOARD WITH ALL THE OTHER CHESS PIECES, AND THE NEXT ONE, I LANDED HERE, AS IF I HAD BEEN TELEPORTED OR STUFF, SO QUIT ACCUSING ME, AND QUIT SHOUTING ONCE AND FOR ALL, FOR THIS IS EXTREMELY TIRESOME !"

This time, Rage indeed lowered her voice volume but still talked loud enough for her wrath to express itself pretty efficiently.

"Pffff, you are shouting yourself, Your Majesty, in case you overlooked it…"

The blue blood uttered most of the next sentence through gritted teeth, seething.

"That's because you're angering me to no end, and I end up speaking as loud as you. It's your fault !"

The two royal eyes were sending daggers to the four commoner's eyes.

"Whatever. So you say you were… teleported in Nevermore, and precisely in my domain ? Who would teleport a chess piece here, and for what reason ? That's nonsense !"

The ungentle emotion obviously didn't believe it, and honestly, dear readers, would you have believed the Queen ? Would you have considered a teleported chess piece as a reality ? Honestly ? Raise your hands, those who would have believed that ! **all hands raised** Hum… okaaaaaaay… **I raise an eyebrow** … well… errrr… back to the story, eh !

"And yet it's true, as true as this place is creepy."

The grey-skinned teen glared at her interlocutor.

"Leave this place in peace, okay ? It's MY place and nobody can criticize it !"

The stone being made a pout but didn't answer.

Rage decided to probe the Queen's mind, and after she had done so, she had to face the facts : that damn intruder was sincere indeed ! The emoticlone could tell the other wasn't lying.

"Right, I admit that you're telling the truth." she finally told the chess piece.

"How do you know ?"

"I probed your mind to know if you were telling the truth or not."

"You WHAT ?!"

"Hey, easy, Your Majesty ! I had no other way to determine if you had invented all this or not ! So calm down a bit !"

"Okay, but don't probe it anymore. That's so rude to invade one's privacy ! And stop calling me 'Your Majesty", I don't like it !"

"If I want to call you that, I will ! Don't forget you're in my domain, so I'm the one having authority ! And besides, I'm way more powerful than you ! So no giving me orders, okay… Your Majesty !"

A wicked lopsided smile of superiority appeared on the emotion's mouth.

The Queen gritted her teeth and her eyes sent as many daggers as they had in reserve.

"I wish I never came here and met you !" she finally spat out.

"Too late !" Rage almost sadistically replied, smirking even more and appreciating the blue blood's anger and frustration.

They both stared at each other, the chess piece indisputably hostile, the emoticlone now more lightly unfriendly than really hostile.

Finally, the four-eyed one made an unexpected proposal.

"How about I did both of us a favour by sending you back where you belong ? Would that please you and make you forget about your hard feelings to me ?"

"You would do that for me ? Why ? Why would you help me ?" suspiciously asked the Queen.

"Oh, I'm doing it more for me than for you. Because if I send you back to your chessboard, I will be quiet again, you won't bother me anymore. So, deal ?"

The huge stone creature pondered it for a few seconds… but all things considered, she didn't have much of another choice to get back home, so…

"Okay, deal."

Rage raised her arms and stretched them in direction of the Queen.

But before she actually did it…

"I could say 'good riddance', but that would leave you a bad final memory of me. So I'll just stick to the classic goodbye. Ah, and…" Her voice suddenly changed and became all smooth, almost affectionate, as it pronounced the last sentence : "It was a pleasure meeting you, Your Majesty !"

"Mmmmmf… yeah, likewise…" ironically replied the white statue-looking female.

Rage then pronounced a sequence of words… a white light surrounded the Queen… "drowned" her completely within… the light intensified…

…and as it subsided, it clearly showed an empty spot where the "crowned head" used to sit.

Rage lowered her arms and stared for a while at that vacant space on the ground.

"Finally some quietness ! Gosh, she really got on my nerves ! So, good riddance anyway !" she ended up saying, frowning.

Then she turned around, ready to take off and get back to her favourite meditation location…

…and, quite unexpectedly, a smile slowly formed on her lips !

"But it was an interesting distraction. Meditation is important… but it's boring ! So a bit of action didn't hurt ! And it was actually fun putting her down a bit, coz she was so snobby… Her Majesty !"

She laughed up her sleeve for a few seconds, before taking off for good…

 **=#=#=#=#=#=#==#=#=#=#=#=#==#=#=#=#=#=#==#=#=#=#=#=#==#=#=#=#=#=#==#=#=#=#=#=#=**

 **Doesn't it sound logical that the haughty Queen and the irascible emoticlone would have a hard time getting along, and that there would be screams, glaring, gritted teeth, clenched fists and all other tension indicators ?**

 **Well, they certainly won't go on holiday together, as we say here… but it certainly was funny witnessing their confrontation, wasn't it ? ^^**

 **Hope ya enjoyed this tense ride between the noble one and the commoner, between the chess piece and the emotion. And see, even when she is pleased to see the Queen gone, Rage still manages to smile and retrospectively consider the whole episode as "funny". So is she really THAT terrible as a demonic entity, mmmmh ?**

 **All electro fans, once again, listen to Arnaud Rebotini, especially SOMEONE GAVE ME RELIGION. You really shouldn't be disappointed… and if you are, well, you've got no one to blame but yourselves ! =P**

 **I'm not gonna work on INLAND EMPIRE for now, seeing as Ana should start next chappy soon (if she hasn't yet), so I guess I've got enough time for another chapter until she's done. Therefore, read ya (as) soon (as possible), Folxxxx, and take good care of yo'selves till then !**

 **Best of anything !**

 **Peace, Love, Ecstasy !**

 **:Dxx**


	10. It's the last (thing) KING on my mind !

**Ciao a tutti !**

 **And for those of you who don't speak Italian – please raise your hands (**all hands are raised**)…. hum, okay… - that greeting above means "Hello all !" And, ya know… guys, you really should learn Italian, coz it's a really beautiful language. Although not as beautiful as French… **grin****

 **Eh yes, we're finally here ! Not the last chapter of this story, since there will be an epilog, but at least the last chapter** ** _involving an emoticlone_** **. There indeed remains only one emotion, and therefore one chess piece as well. And this time, you HAVE to know who they will be respectively, since all the others are "done with".**

 **The last chapter was rather stormy, wasn't it (that's the understatement of the year, at least…), but this one will definitely be calmer. And if there is one emoticlone who is famous for her calmness, it's definitely (answer all blurry, undecipherable… ;D) !**

 **And Joe Y. !**

 **#?#?#?#?#?#?#?# IT'S THE LAST (THING) KING ON MY MIND ! #!#!#!#!#!#!#!#**

Knowledge…

Such an important element in one's education.

In fact, the other essential element along with one's manners, one's behaviour in society.

And rare are the men who don't have any knowledge. Even in the poorest countries, families will spare most of their money to first raise their children, and then send them to school. Because gathering knowledge, and therefore getting education, is fundamental to one's later blossoming, and thus one's future happiness.

Isn't that crucial ?

And that's why knowledge is essential.

Why we need it so badly.

Why we _want_ it so badly.

And who was the most fond of knowledge ?

Well… Knowledge !

As simple as that.

She was true to her name, and soaked up all knowledge, like a drunkard would do with alcohol…

Hum, well… maybe not the best-chosen metaphor, on second thought…

Let's rather say : … like a glutton would with junk food.

Still not ?

Jeez, I can't find a fitting comparison, it seems… okay, so I'm gonna limit myself to this one here : she soaked up all knowledge like the knowledgeable emoticlone that she was !

Awkward, you say ?!

Ya know what ?! Well : ** ( **parental advisory : explicit content !** ) **

Ok, there, now that I got that off my chest…

Uh, where was I again ?

Ah, yes, here :

Knowledge was the most learned, the most intelligent of all emoticlones, but she also was the wisest, always advising her sisters at best, doing her utmost to help them, and basically being the sensible and obliging one whom everybody loved and respected… even the ill-mannered Rude, and _**even**_ **Rage** , despite her constant disagreeing with her, one choosing the path of peace and reflection while the other always unburied the hatchet and "went to war".

Yes, as incredible as it sounds, even the terrible Rage revered Knowledge and never lacked respect when addressing her.

That is why the Yellow Cloak was informally considered as the leader of the emoticlones.

But while she was flattered by that honour, she kept telling her sisters that she didn't view herself as their leader, merely as one of them… but no matter how often she gently protested that she didn't "rule" their sisterhood, they others still stuck to their opinions and continued to tacitly regard her as their chief.

And as this new chapter starts, Knowledge was once again busy storing… knowledge **(big surprise, eh !)** in her vast mind, her eyes almost glued to the pages of the enthralling biology book she was avidly "soaking up".

She read slowly, taking all her time, stopping for a few seconds to ponder something, every now and then, then resumed her quiet activity,

But no matter how concentrated she was, when there was that distant noise _and_ that huge yet brief tremor, she immediately raised her head, prompt to leave that book who had hypnotized her so well… until that moment !

Straightening her glasses on her nose, as she regularly did – Rude had once proposed her to get her some lenses, just to have her stop that mannerism ! -, she looked in the direction she knew the sound had come from.

 _Now who is it, this time ? Happy ? Rage ? Rude ? Brave ?_

She knew for a fact that none of the other three – Timid, Love and Sloth – would cause such an extremely loud noise, with a mini-earthquake as bonus. Timid and Sloth were the living embodiments of Quietness, and Love never caused any commotion.

Happy could have made a prank, as could have Rude.

Brave could be fighting… against Rage.

Rage could be lifting huge rocks, thanks to her energy, and throw them at Happy.

Brave or Rage could be using their powers to let out their overflow of energy, of fighting will.

Rude could have made something explode while doing odd jobs of sorts.

Happy could have put the volume of one of her movies so loud that the sound could be perceived even in Knowledge's domain.

Difficult to guess, really…

The yellow-cloaked female let out a sigh.

She loved her sisters… but wished some of them had quieter pastimes. And she sometimes found herself regretting that her own domain was right in the middle of Nevermore, surrounded by all the other domains… and therefore easily affected by hubbubs of all kinds. No matter from _which_ area the blare originated from : Knowledge's domain being located in the center of the others, the poor girl would necessarily be "victim" of it.

And while it enabled her to quickly know when something was wrong, and therefore allowed her to go and either help a sister in need or avoid a catastrophe elsewhere, it still was trying to be forced to deal with just _any_ disturbing din around…

 _But since it has been extremely silent and quiet this week, I guess I can't complain for the first noise in seven days…_

And with that being… THOUGHT, she gently put the book aside, making sure it was in a place where it wouldn't get wet or stolen – the learned emoticlone treated her books as if they were her children, with all the care and lightness she was capable of – and, straightening the glasses on her nose for the umpteenth time, she let out a brief sigh and slowly took off.

Knowledge had good eyesight, and this was still reinforced by her glasses (and these weren't even bifocals, so imagine if she had had the latter…!). But even if she had been nearsighted, she couldn't have missed the very large object towering over a poppy field.

She briefly frowned as she spotted it and immediately bent her course to reach the field of red flowers.

Gliding over these at a slow pace, she made her way to the mysterious thing that had just appeared in her domain and seemed to be waiting for her on the hillock opposite.

She finally came to a halt, with enough distance left to enable her to get a good view of the huge object.

A statue.

And judging by its design, the statue of a king, with its crown on top of the head, its large formal gold chain around the neck and the typical beard that so many monarchs sported.

"Good craftsmanship !" commented the emoticlone as she admired the fine finish of the artistic object.

She took off again and flew up to the head of the statue, willing to take a closer look at the details of the face, as she was especially sensitive to the features of a person, in any kind of depiction.

The Yellow Cloak stopped right opposite the stone face, whose eyes were closed, and came nearer, looking carefully at every little part of the royal facial anatomy.

"That king is really well fashioned !" she concluded with a small smile, appreciative of the craftsman's talent, and standing up straight again after remaining slightly bent forward to better observe.

She was about to let herself sink back to the ground… when she saw the statue's eyes abruptly open !

And stare straight at her !

"Thank you !" a loud yet gentle voice suddenly exclaimed.

And although it was as incredible as possible, there wasn't any denying it : the voice _did_ come from the statue itself !

Knowledge definitely had more self-control than any of her sisters, but that didn't mean that she couldn't get frightened in some rare cases… such as, for instance, a talking king statue…

And she thus let out a gasp, then briskly floated back, her eyes goggling and threatening to get bigger than the glasses in front of them.

"Oh, I am sorry to have scared you. I didn't mean to do that. Will you please accept my royal apologies for this unwanted result ?"

Knowledge swallowed saliva, her eyes having a hard time resuming their normal size, and straightened her glasses on her nose, as if this could help see better and actually realize that she had imagined it all, that the statue's eyes had in fact never opened.

But no.

This didn't change anything.

They **were** open, these eyes, and the mineral figure **was** staring at her, against any logic.

"A statue that speaks… what new mystery is that ?" she said, more to herself than to her surprising interlocutor.

"As I said, I apologize for unsettling you. I hope you agree to forgive me…" he replied.

A brief pause, time for Knowledge to get a grip on herself, and…

"Yes… of course… I mean, it's not your fault if you scared me…" Then she thought of something and corrected : "In fact, technically, it IS partly your fault, because you shouldn't speak and you still speak, which IS frightening…." Another pondering moment, then : "But then again, I cannot ask you not to speak because you're a statue if you DO feel like speaking, so if you want to say something, you have the right to and it's therefore not your fault if, by doing so, it scares me." She held her chin in her hand as she considered all that and concluded : "Gosh, this is not so evident to sort out and decide about…"

The king lacked the eyebrow he so badly wanted to raise above his eye, right this minute.

"Are you always that indecisive or is it just so because I troubled you ?"

That also took the glasses-wearer by surprise, although she naturally was less taken aback in this case than she was when she saw him open his eyes.

"Oh, hum… well… it's just that I have that habit to ponder things a lot, more than my siblings, and while I know it may be exaggerate sometimes, I just can't help it."

The statue smiled. **(A/N : now, it even feels weird to actually** _ **write**_ **that…! XD)**

" 'It may be exaggerate sometimes…', you say… Hum, no offense intended, but you can replace 'may' by 'is' and remove 'sometimes'. "

The Yellow Cloak mentally made the changes in the sentence and gave a quick nod.

"Alright, I understand and probably you are right. Ah, and no offense taken, really !"

She flashed a brief small smile, her who rarely ever smiled.

"And in this case, you can remove 'probably'…" he continued.

This time, she snorted as she adjusted – again ! - her glasses on her nose.

"We just met and you're already teasing me like we were long-time friends and had a nice, long complicity with each other… Pretty unexpected, I must say, but actually pleasant."

"Oh, it's just that I'm used to being right. And anyway, I'm a royal figure, so people usually don't hesitate to agree with me and claim I'm right. One doesn't dare to contradict me. That's one of the advantages of being king."

"You sound very self-confident…"

"Maybe I am indeed. Oh, and normally you should call me 'Your Majesty', out of respect for my royal condition…"

Knowledge didn't reply to that.

"But perhaps you don't want to, given your silence ?" he continued.

"Hum… I don't know… I may use 'Your Majesty' when addressing a **real** king, but given that it is unsettling enough to talk to a statue, I've got some difficulty to address said statue with the words I would use for a **person** … So, it's not that I don't want to… it's rather that I find it… strange. But no offence intended – my turn to say that…"

"And no offense taken neither, just like first time. So you won't call me 'Your Majesty'… hum, that certainly isn't very respectful… but given that you divert me, I guess I'll be merciful and forgive you for not calling me like my subjects do."

Knowledge bent forward.

"Then I guess I should thank Your Majesty for her mercifulness to me… even if the fact is that I am _not_ one of your subjects and therefore not obliged to show you the same respect. But again, despite my somewhat annoying comments and remarks, not devoid of a dash of irony, be sure I **do** respect you and that I'm not trying to make fun of you. But I'm not accustomed to using terms of respect… except for Master, naturally."

That aroused the king's curiosity.

"Your Master ? You have a Master ? Who is it ? And what is his rank ? Duke ? Earl ? Viscount ? Baron ?"

Knowledge couldn't help laughing up her sleeve.

"Are you by chance laughing at me ?!" asked the blue blood on a clearly irate tone.

The emoticlone raised a calming hand.

"I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but as I stated short before, I'm certainly not one to make fun of people. Even less if they have a certain condition, a respectable condition. But I was caught unaware by your list of nobility titles. Because, as a matter of fact, my Master isn't part of nobility at all. She is an extremely powerful female wizard, and I am under her orders. It is the only person I regularly make a reverence to and show deep respect to. That's why I'm not used to showing the same to anybody else. I hope you understand this and accept it."

The statue pondered all that was said, then surprise crawled on the mineral features.

"Your Master is a… female wizard ?" the king finally answered.

"She is." simply replied the yellow-clad emotion.

"It reminds me of that sorceress who regularly plays me and my chess friends…"

It was Knowledge's turn to feel surprised.

"You and your chess friends ? What do you mean by that ?" Then comprehension raised to the surface of her mind. "Are you… a chess piece ?"

Her interlocutor smiled.

"I am the White King of the chessboard. And that chessboard belongs to a female wizard, hence this sounding familiar to me when you mentioned it yourself."

"It is the same wizard we are talking about. The wizard who owns the chess board IS my Master !"

"Is it ?"

"It is. And as popular wisdom has it : "it's a small world". So you are one of her chess pieces ?"

"I am. But you still haven't introduced yourself, like good manners require you to."

The four-eyed one let out a discreet sigh. **(A/N : funny how that expression, relating to glasses, actually creates a confusion with Rage…)**

"I must really shock you, no ? I wonder how you can still continue talking to me, since I seem to lack education, in comparison to you…"

The king realized that he may have hurt the girl's feelings, given her words.

"I… didn't want to imply you lacked education. It's not what I meant. I hope you didn't feel insulted…?"

"I didn't, but your comment about lack of manners certainly didn't make me comfortable…"

"Hum… Please accept my royal apologies for making you feel uneasy. It certainly wasn't my intention."

Knowledge's mouth briefly arched upward, in a tentative small smile.

"It's alright. I don't have any resentment against you. It was just…" A pause. "Anyway, we'd better change the subject. But since you want me to introduce myself, my name is Knowledge. I am the owner of the domain you are currently in."

Still no eyebrows over the statue's eyes, otherwise you can be sure, dear readers, that one of them would have been raised at that exact minute.

"That last sentence of yours almost seems like a reproach or a threat." observed the blue blood.

"Yet it is none of these. Merely a simple basic statement. It is a pity you should feel threatened by it, since it definitely wasn't my intention. I am not the kind of person to be menacing to others, far from it. I favor discussions and reasoning to violence, under any form, be it threats, screams, insults, physical force… I therefore wouldn't bluster at anyone, except perhaps in the case of a particularly contemptible enemy."

The king looked impressed as he stared speechless at his vis-à-vis.

"Merely… basic… threatened… favor… bluster… contemptible… You have quite a glossary, to be honest ! You really sound learned… hum, Knowledge, is it ?"

"Thank you. I _am_ learned, as a matter of fact. That is because I spend so much time reading and storing up glossary, ideas, scientific facts, and just any kind of knowledge."

The king smiled.

"You therefore spend much of your time accumulating knowledge of all sorts. I guess that is the reason why you were nicknamed 'Knowledge', isn't it ?"

"To be as accurate as possible, I was not "nicknamed" that : I was **named** that because, indeed, I embody Master's intellectual side. The rest of my sisters is linked to emotions, and while I am also considered one of Master's emotions, I in fact symbolize her cerebral side."

Very unsurprisingly, the sovereign appeared dumfounded by that speech.

"You embody an intellectual side ? You are one of your Master's emotions ? You symbolize the cerebral side ? Sorry, but I don't get any of this. You are an emotion, or the cerebral / intellectual side of who ? I think I heard you mention your Master… Please clarify, as this is somewhat complicated to me. You are definitely clever, but not that easy to understand."

The emoticlone couldn't help snorting, amused by the monarch's perplexity.

"Yes, I can see this unsettles you. And I really cannot blame you for that, as it **is** complex indeed. Well, my name is Knowledge because I embody Master's knowledge, therefore her cerebral / intellectual side. My other sisters embody other aspects of our Master's personality, such as happiness, shyness, courage, anger and so on. They represent her  emotions, while I represent her intellect, but we are still all sisters and all considered emotions, even me, who symbolized thoughts and not emotions. We are therefore abstract constructions – emotions – which have been given tangible, palpable shapes : human bodies. We look like ordinary female teenagers, but we are in fact emotions in disguise." A brief pause, a smile, and : "Is it any clearer to you now ?"

If I had drawn a comic from this story, in this square, the king would be sweat-dropping.

But the fact is, I did not draw any comic about this.

So the king isn't actually sweat-dropping (although it is implied he would be).

And so, why the heck again did I write all this ?!

Damn, got side-tracked again… really must fix that brain o' mine !

Anyway…

The king _felt_ _like_ sweat-dropping, and stared at the grey female with slightly widened eyes and a virtual eyebrow raised.

"That's just the most unbelievable story I have ever heard, to be honest… I think I understood what you said, but that truly sounds so… so strange… so outlandish…"

"Do I deduce from this comment that you don't believe me ?" she asked, but no showing any particular feeling, not even upset.

"No, that's not what I meant. Please do not misunderstand me. I don't put your explanation in doubt. I am ready to believe you… well, uh, no, I'm _not_ _quite_ ready to believe you, because all this is so extra-ordinary, but I am honestly willing to. I didn't want to make it sound like I don't trust you."

"So you don't dispute that I was telling you the truth, and that despite my human appearance, I in fact represent the emotion… hum, rather : the **quality** of a real human being ? Do you think you can accept that fact, no matter how unbelievable it does seem ?"

Knowledge still had a neutral expression, her calm face an inscrutable mask.

"Yes, of course !" hurriedly responded the crowned one. "I can accept that. I am royal blood, and as such, I know I am able to accept any kind of truth, as long as I feel that the one uttering that truth is indeed sincere."

She decided to push him a bit, and although she wasn't one of the most teasing emoticlones, she sometimes decided to let herself go and use humor, tease her interlocutor and see how the latter reacted.

"And do you feel I am sincere ?" she asked on a smooth tone, almost defiantly, as if to challenge the king to try and prove her deceit.

"I do. You have my royal word for that."

"Very well."

A small smile briefly lit up her features.

"I am glad that you trust me… Your Majesty." she softly said. "And I'm sorry if you felt pressured. I didn't mean to make you nervous with my questions."

The king certainly didn't expect excuses from that cloaked girl, as he didn't expect her to call him 'Majesty'. And that's why he felt a surge of consideration for her suddenly overwhelm him.

"No, it's fine. Trust me, Knowledge, it is really fine. You don't have to apologize. Not at all. But still, thank you for doing so. And you also have my thanks for calling me 'Majesty'. But, to be honest, since you are not my subject, as you pertinently pointed it out, you indeed don't have to use that formal way of addressing me."

The sovereign now behaving so delicately to her certainly disconcerted her to some extent. But it also delighted her, at the same time.

"I just wanted to show you respect." she kindly stated, still showing that small smile that she wasn't used to and not often displayed to her sisters or her Master.

It was the chess piece's turn to smile.

"And this honours you ! You really are an honorable, respectable person, Knowledge ! I can sense that !"

The officious leader of the emoticlones only made reverences to their Master, out of deep consideration to her, but she exceptionally decided to bow in front of the king. **(N/A : But hey, just her head, ya know, coz Raven still has the exclusive rights on "full bows", those made with the full body, instead of only the head… ah, ya had got it… okay, sorry, my mouth's too big, I guess ! ^^'')**

"Thank you wholeheartedly for your nice words, Your Majesty ! I feel flattered, and by way of expressing you my gratitude, I shall be equally nice to you, by saying that you are a noble sovereign, one who knows when and how to show respect, and NOT one of those pompous royal figures who are scornful and look down on everybody around them. I often felt contempt for kings and queens because they tended to have that kind of despicable attitude. But I naturally know that there also are respectable monarchs, and you undoubtedly are one of them. And I am honoured to know you, I really am, Your Highness."

And if that king hadn't been made of stone, but of flesh, like you, me and about 7 other billions of other folks outa here, he would have sensed a tiny wet spot in the external corner of his left eye, right this minute. And although kings usually don't shed tears, trust me, this one here, would definitely have let a tear down his eye if he had been human.

In fact, he had never been so moved.

In fact, he was so rarely moved that this one time here _had_ to be particularly moving for him.

In fact, it was even hard to remember the last time the White King had been moved.

In fact, I think that I'm writing too many 'in fact's', so I should in fact stop doing so and in fact focus on some other stuff that would in fact be more worthy of it, in fact.

 **(Damn broken record…!)**

"Knowledge… it is such a delight talking to you and listening to you… so much in fact that I could almost consider staying here with you. I truthfully would appreciate it to no end, and I know that it would be extremely interesting discussing with you every day. But alas… alas, my royal duties are waiting for me on the chessboard, and while I would be glad to remain here some more time, I must not forget that my chess friends are waiting for me."

That's when it hit Knowledge **(ouch ! XD)** : she didn't even know why the king was in her domain.

"Your Majesty, I think I can help you go back to the chessboard. But first, I have a question to ask you : how did you arrive here ? And why did you come here in the first place ?"

"In fact, to be honest, I don't even know. I was on my black game square, patiently waiting for you Master to play me sometime, and there was this blinding light… and when I could distinctly see again, I noticed I had just landed in here. But **how** I came here is a total mystery to me. As a matter of fact, I would be curious to know the answer."

The Yellow Cloak nodded with a knowing look. She knew some Titan had been up to something in her Master's room… and she had her little idea about that Titan's identity !

"It's not so important anyway, Your Majesty. Perhaps I will manage to find out who is behind all this. But what currently matters is to take you back to the chessboard. And for that, I can help. I know a teleportation spell, so that will be easy to do."

"Thank you so much for your help, dear Knowledge. And for your kindness and intelligence. You have everything needed to become an honorable sovereign yourself. Your sisters should be proud to have you among the group of your siblings."

"Oh, they already consider me like their leader. Which naturally is flattering, but which I modestly disagree with, since in my opinion, there is no emoticlone who is "above" the others."

"They probably deem you so because of your intelligence and wisdom."

"I know they do, but still… I am not better than any of them, only different. But now is the time to take care of you and your return home. This is what is most important right now."

She raised her hands towards the statue.

The small smile reappeared on her grey lips.

"It was really pleasant to have you here, your Highness. I was honored to host you for a while, even if you arrived here against your own will. I wholeheartedly thank you again for all your kindness and respect, which really made me very happy, and somehow I regret that you can't stay any longer here with me. I wish you a harmonious return among your chess friends and a long life as a chess piece."

"It's rather me to thank you for your kindness and respect, Knowledge, because you have been very nice and delicate to me, and even decided to use that formal way of addressing a royal figure, 'Your Majesty', although I had told you it wasn't necessary since you were not one of my subjects. But you still did it, and for that, I express you all my gratitude. It was really interesting staying with you, and I also regret this can't last longer. But be sure I will cherish the memory of my short time here in your company. I also wish you a long existence and as much bliss as one possibly can get in a lifetime."

They looked at each other with emotion, in silence, for long seconds, respect and sympathy flowing form their eyes.

The King was the first one to break that silence.

"Take good care of you, Knowledge."

"Thank you. Do the same with you." she replied, once again with that unusual small smile none of her sisters nor her Master were used to.

He gave a head bow, a deep one, just as if he was showing consideration to a queen instead of an emoticlone, and the girl's smile widened.

Then she closed her eyes to focus.

When she reopened them, they were bright white.

She uttered the magical formula… a white light surrounded the stone monarch… drowned him deep inside of it… the light grew blinding… and finally started to die down.

Once it had vanished, there was nothing in the spot it had been.

The King was gone.

Knowledge stared for long seconds at the empty spot, recalling the chess piece's words, and the sense of welfare she had been experiencing became more intense.

She took her glasses off, slowly cleaned them while still remembering the sovereign's nice speech and how they had touched her soul, then she put her glasses back in place and let out an imperceptible sigh.

And the usually non-smiling grey female once again couldn't help smiling, but the smile grew so wide this time that it became a grin.

She sure may get accustomed to smiling… and for this, she was even more grateful to the White King !

 **#?#?#?#?#?#?#?##?#?#?#?#?#?#?#?#?#?#?#?#!#!#!#!#!#!#!##!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#**

 **And that's a wrap !**

 **The King himself is back to the chess board ! Which means that all of the white chess pieces are now in their original spot ! Thanks to the emoticlones. Good job, sisters !**

 **I didn't manage to make this chapter as amusing as the others, because… eh, I dunno, it's kinda difficult to make humour with Knowledge. I mean, she's always so serious… even if, in this chappy here, she learned to smile more often… and as it is hinted at the end, she may well get used to it. Coz after all, smiling is such a nice, pleasant activity, isn't it, guys ?**

 **I really liked the friendly and respectful relationship between Knowledge and the King. What about ya, dear readers ?**

 **Okay, so what happens now ? Is this the end of the story ? Well, I suggest ya stay tuned and wait a bit more to find out.**

 **Once again, thanxxxx a lot for reading and may the Force (and Love !) be with ya !**

 **Peace, Love, Ecstasy !**

 **:Dxx**


	11. Everything's well that RAVends well !

**Hellooooooooooo !**

 **Sloth, Rude, Love, Brave, Timid, Happy, Rage, Knowledge, Rooks, Knights, Bishops, Queen, King…**

 **Hey, looxxxx like we've got everything ! That I've been through them all !**

 **Everything okay, now ? It would seem so. But to find out… why not read this chapter to know how the story finds its appropriate conclusion. Coz indeed… this bunch here IS the end ! Yup, last straight line, and then… curtain call, y'know !**

 **We'll now see how a certain sorceress will realize that everything's in its right place, like Radiohead sang it back in 2000 on KID A (great experimental album, btw).**

 **I do hope you're all fine, or at least as good as you can possibly be with everyday chores and worries… but as long as these remain minor worries, you're all good, eh ! ^^**

 **Before I start, I would like to send a prayer up to the sky for poor Jessica Whelan, a 4 year-old child who, I discovered it this morning (Nov 28** **th** **) died from cancer after terrible suffering. I'm particularly sensitive to tragedies about children, especially when the Grim Reaper is waiting at the end of a long road of suffering… I know that Jessica's soul will rest in eternal bliss after her difficult existence, somewhere up there, in a place where all souls of Earth's children dwell in their last home…**

 **And so, just like that, for the last time :**

 **N'Joy !**

 **"."."."."."."." EVERYTHING'S WELL THAT…** ** _RAV_** **EN** **DS WELL ! "."."."."."."."**

It had been a long day, _another_ long day for the Teen Titans.

First task of the day : kick Dr. Light's butt. That didn't take too long, since the mad scientist cowered in a corner as soon as dark tentacles emerged from Raven's cloak…

"NOOO ! NOT THAT ! I'LL BE GOOD ! I SWEAR I'LL BE GOOD !" he shouted, his eyes as wide as flying saucers… if not more.

"Sure of that ?" asked the deep, distorted voice of Rage, speaking via Raven's mouth, as the red eyes that were also her characteristic slowly narrowed into red slits.

"YESYESYESYESYES ! SURE ! DEAD SURE !"

"Better be dead sure, Light, otherwise you'll be dead… FOR sure !"

The demonic voice certainly didn't imply anything close to humor, but the pun just made by the cloaked girl was a slight influence of Happy, who would later get threatened by Rage for ruining her evil composure of Raven's behaviour.

Needless say the mad scientist would indeed be good for months after that, the mere memory of the devilish look on the Dark Titan being enough of a demoralization regarding escaping.

Second task of the day : send Johnny Rancid's motorcycle to the junkyard, and its owner in a nice concrete room… alas without window, but with cool sliding railings… yet which unfortunately couldn't be opened by himself.

Putting that moron where he deserved to be was a particular satisfaction for Cyborg, who just hated the kid's cheeky attitude and his unkempt clothing. But Raven wasn't any less pleased to see him "back to square one", as she really despised such a boy, in whom "all lights were on but there was nobody home". Some airhead, definitely.

Third task of the day : saving the East Side neighbourhood from Plasmus's slimy grip. It was particularly delicate a task, as there was a school nearby and, by one of those most unwelcome bad luck strokes, the battle was to happen short before school ended and pupils came out.

And so much for "dirty work" : mud on the arms, mud on the legs, mud on the chest, mud on the head… One just needed to swallow it and one would have been both fully covered AND filled with that awful substance…

Definitely a "nice" time in common for the team…

After they had defeated that most unpleasant monster, our superheroes wished nothing more than a good hot shower or bath. And since bad luck this time gave way to good luck, it turned out that no more lawbreakers decided to wreaked havoc on that particularly hectic day, so the "quintet" were more than happy and relieved to call it a day mission-wise and hurry back home to finally regain their dignity… and good smell !

"I'm first !" shouted Beast Boy as he ran towards the door that would lead him to "heaven" – which currently had the look of a bathroom.

"No way !" yelled Cyborg, following suit.

But right when they were about to exit the room and make a race competition in the corridor, a large black oval disc materialized just in front of the entrance, blocking the boys' way.

"Hey ! Not fair !" yelled the morpher as he turned around to face Raven, outrage almost jumping out of his face on to her.

"Have you ever heard of something called courtesy ? Or gallantry ?" she calmly asked, anticipating the result.

"Oh, come on, Rae, don't try to impress me with your clever words ! I know I'm not as smart as you, but that's not a reason to recall it to me !"

"No wonder you ignore those words. And I'm not going to contradict you regarding my being smarter than you… both in mind and in dressing !"

She was making a wordplay based on the two different meanings of 'smart', meaning she was at the same time more intelligent and dressed more elegantly. But the shapeshifter gazed at her with a raised eyebrow and simply uttered a pretty funny "Uh ? What's that ?"

Impossible not to laugh, either up or down your sleeve.

The empath rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.

"Courtesy means that boys are supposed to let girls go first, for politeness's sake." she patiently explained, refraining her will to once more use her sarcasm on that green buffoon.

"Hey ? But why should we-"

Beast Boy didn't finish it and gulped when he saw her eyes shine white.

There was a brief silence, during which the morpher looked at his black teammate.

Seeing this, the Dark Titan turned to the latter, her eyes still intensely white.

"Anything to add ?" she asked him.

Cyborg made a forced smile, swallowing his saliva as well.

"No no, nothing… nothing at all…" he quickly let out.

"Sure of that ?"

"Y-Yeah… sure as hell !"

He watched her with dread, hoping she wouldn't get madder than she already was.

She turned to the left to glance at Robin and saw the young acrobat raise both hands in a pacifying attitude.

"The bathroom is all yours." he uttered.

"Good decision." she dropped.

The Azarathian's eyes finally regained their usual violet shade.

"There. It's settled then. I knew you would be reasonable. A little talk always help sort out a problem, doesn't it ?" she said in her deadpan voice, her face still imperturbable, but virtually smirking deep inside.

She turned towards the Tamaranean.

"Since boys are gallant enough to let us go first, let's not waste anymore time, Starfire. I'll be courteous like them and let you have your shower first."

"Oh thank you so much, friend Raven ! You are so kind ! And thank you as well, Friends, for letting us go before you !" she said, looking at the three boys at the end.

"Yeah yeah… don't mention it…" replied Beast Boy in a sinister voice, with probably the most frustrated look of the year, if not the decade.

 **"** **."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."**

 _Aaaaah, that's definitely pleasant ! Being all clean ! I just couldn't wait to get all that mud off ! I really HATE fighting Plasmus…"_

She indeed would rather fight three enemies in a row rather than only the disgusting "mountain of mud".

And as she put new clothes on, she couldn't help smiling to herself, recalling the boys' expressions when she had subdued them.

 _They are my friends, yes… but I guess even good friends need to be taught a lesson, every now and then. For their own good, even if they clearly think the opposite and would gladly slap me if they were brave enough to do so. Brave… or rash ! More like rash, actually._

The smile remained on her lips for more time than it had been there during the whole week… no surprise there, eh, since as you know, Rae isn't exactly the smiling type.

Once she was dressed, she gave her room one of those automatic looks one does when he/she isn't exactly focused and merely does it out of habit.

Her purple eyes gave a panoramic glance to her bookshelf, her gothic ornaments, the simple table and chair nearby, the chessboard…

Her look briskly stopped and she frowned.

What was it she had spotted over there ?

 _No, that can't be right. I must have hallucinations. It was a long day and I'm certainly too tired to even see properly…_

But no matter her closing and reopening her eyes, she would still see the one and same thing.

She slowly walked over to the table, her eyes glued to what was on it.

Actually, to a certain part of the object on the table.

Standing there, as incredulous as she was, she still had no choice but admit that she was NOT hallucinating, that it was real after all.

All of the disappeared white chess pieces were back in their original spots.

All.

Raven almost felt like pinching herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but that wasn't like her to do so. Besides, you guys would have argued that she was OoC doing such a thing, wouldn't ya ? **awkward silence in the audience**…Yeah, thought so…

But she ended up going for the most likely of all hypotheses, which was that one of the two "prankers" had brought back the chess pieces.

This upset her, because they had sworn that they hadn't stolen those pieces. Yet if the latter were back in their original place, it could mean only one thing : someone had brought them back, and who would have done so if not Beast Boy or Cyborg ?

She was torn being grateful to them for returning her property and resentful for their lying to her.

But then something surfaced in her memory…

She had read their minds, when they had sworn they hadn't stolen the chess pieces, and she had found out that they were telling the truth. Which meant that they really had NOT stolen them.

Yes, she clearly recalled it now.

But if it wasn't them, then who…?

She decided to get to the bottom of it and left her room.

Two minutes later, she stopped by the sofa, where Beast Boy and Cyborg were playing Uno, and crossed her arms as she stared at them.

You bet the boys's temperature sank like a stone in a pond when they were confronted to her intense gaze.

"When did you bring them back ?" she asked, although she had indeed realized that they were sincere when they had told her they hadn't stolen the chess pieces, that it wasn't them taking the pieces away.

"Uh… bring… bring what back ?" stuttered the morpher.

"You know perfectly well what…" she replied calmly without taking her eyes off him for even the quarter of a millisecond.

"Uh… but… uh… no, I don't… I swear I don't…"

She observed him for a few seconds before turning her impressive cold purple stare on the half-machine teenager, who may have had in general more self-control than the green boy but who this time couldn't help gulping.

"And you ? You also ignore what I'm talking about, I guess ?" the Dark Titan said in a calm, yet somewhat threatening tone.

"Errrr… well… as a matter of fact… hum… I … I'm not sure…" he hesitantly admitted.

"So what do you think it is ?"

"Hum… to be honest… I… I don't know…"

"You said you weren't sure."

"Yeah, but… in fact… I didn't know what to say… so… uh… it came out like that…"

She gave a sigh after watching them intently for long, long seconds.

"My white chess pieces… those that had vanished… they are back in place. I thought you had brought them back. But I remember you claiming that you hadn't stolen them, yet I still wanted to clear the matter up with you."

"But it WASN'T us !" protested Beast Boy.

"We told you the truth ! We swear we did !" added Cyborg, praying that she would believe them.

They looked and sounded as if they were forced to the guillotine and begging the executioner for mercy.

"I know. I read your minds and know you are telling the truth. But in order to read your minds, I had to be close to you; that's why I had to confront you, so as to be near you and have the opportunity to read your minds and see if you were guilty or not."

"And you found we were not guilty, then ?" asked Beast Boy, still sounding like he was trying to persuade the executioner not to kill him.

There was a half a minute of silence, during which Raven merely observed the two boys and relished their dread. She had decided to be a bit of a sadist and make them fear the worst.

"Yes, I did. Your thoughts let me know you really, sincerely didn't know who had brought back the pieces, and that you weren't the ones who did it. So you're out of trouble…"

She turned away, about to leave, but right before she turned her head back at them and finished the sentence she had in fact left pending :

"…for the moment !"

And this time, her tone sounded pretty menacing.

They watched her walk away, and once the automatic doors had closed and they were alone again, sweat rolled down their back as they let out long sighs, goosebumps starting to leave their skin…

"Better have her as a friend rather than as an enemy, eh ?" dropped Cyborg, still sweating.

"Dude, you nailed it !" replied the green boy, wiping his forehead.

 **"** **."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."."**

Back in her room, Raven thoughtfully regarded the chessboard, still wondering who had put these pieces where they belonged to.

 _If it's not those two who did it… then who ?_

But as much as she pondered the problem, no satisfying answer came up.

She sighed.

While she was really pleased to see her dear pieces back, she still felt somewhat frustrated to not find out what… or rather WHO was behind this nice surprise.

But she ended up thinking that she might not be able to unravel that mystery… well, at least not on that very day.

She then looked around her room, wondering what to do next, and meditation inevitably showed up first in her mind… for after all, she practiced it so often…

And she was heading for the door, ready to go up on the roof, when another thought crossed her mind.

 _There's something else I could do, as a matter of fact… something I haven't done in quite a few days…_

And with that thought (and not "said", for a change…), she vanished in a swirl of black…

…and reappeared on top of on a hummock located by an orchard.

She was ready to use her powers to sense the presence of the one she wanted to talk to, but luck was on her side : the sound of voices made her turn around and observe the orchard.

And sure enough, in the middle of the trees, several persons were having a discussion, including the one she had come to visit.

All the better then : she could seize the occasion to address the others as well, and therefore control the situation at best. Because after all, with those moody and unpredictable ones down there, one HAD to learn how to control the situation…

She floated down to the scene of the conversation and, as she landed, one of the girls happily called her name and all heads turned in her direction.

"Good evening, everyone !" the empath told the group.

The eight colour-cloaked emotions bowed in front of their Master, as their usual respectful gesture of greeting her, and Knowledge felt slightly uneasy as she recalled she had been doing almost the same thing to someone else than her beloved Master, recently. And an uneasy Knowledge is something you won't see more than once a decade, at best…

"Welcome, Master !" said the unofficial emoticlone leader as she tried to dismiss that bit of embarrassment.

And she had enough control over herself to successfully hide it and avoid Raven to notice it. Hats off, Know' !

What the Azarathian noticed instead, and which was remarkable to her, was the presence of Rage. The most unstable of her emotions extremely rarely mixed with her sisters, and there had to be some pretty important reason for her exceptionally accepting to be part of their group.

Maybe she had lost some wager and the forfeit was that she should stay with the others for the day ?

"I'm pleased to see you, Rage !" softly said Raven. "It's already rare to have my emotions gather together, but even more rare to see you among them. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit ?"

"Pleasure ? Is it really a pleasure to see me ?" pertinently pointed out the four-eyed creature, knowing full well she wasn't appreciated… even if today, her sisters didn't show any signs of hostility or dread against her. Which was just as rare as the Red Cloak showing up.

"It is to me. I've been regretting enough times that you would always stay by your side and so rarely spend time with your sisters. I must admit that I enjoy my own privacy on a regular basis, but I couldn't live away from my friends for long. I respect your will of a retreat, since I have it as well, but I am particularly pleased when I see you here with the rest of the group. So yes, it _**is**_ a pleasure to me to see you here with them !"

The fiery emoticlone didn't know what to answer. She so rarely ever received positive comments from her Master that she had a hard time believing that this was really happening. But she was still even less likely to pinch herself than Raven was… so still no OoC for ya, guys ! ;)

"And so, may I know the reason of your nice stay with your sisters ?" continued the sorceress.

"We were discussing about the… hum, "guests" that we had in Nevermore lately. It was Knowledge's ideas to speak about it all together after she heard Timid and Love say that they had had the same visits as her. We were exposing each in turn our own experience with those visitors." explained the red-cloaked female.

"Visitors ?" repeated Raven, before turning to Knowledge.

The latter straightened her glasses on her nose and cleared her voice.

"Yes, each of us has received the visit of one of your white chess pieces and -"

"WHAT ?!"

It was extremely rare to hear the emotionless girl shout so loud and see her eyes goggle so wide. In fact, even more rare than a _sun_ eclipse in the XXIth century.

"Yes, your chess pieces dropped by to say hello and we had so much fun with them…" shrilled Happy, before catching Rage's frown and correcting : "Well, hum, _most of us_ had…"

"My chess pieces were HERE ?!" repeated an incredulous Raven.

"Yes, they were, and let me tell you that the Knight I talked so badly deserved slaps !" Brave said with temper, arms crossed.

"Same with the Queen…" dropped Rage

"Eh, the Bishop was pretty funny !" opposed Happy.

"The… the Bishop I met was… uh… he scared me a bit… he was… so loud… and… and I didn't get… all of his joking… but I know he… he just tried to be nice…" slowly said Timid.

"But how on Earth did they get **here** ?" wondered the chess player.

"Hum… that's what we couldn't find out, and what we were notably talking about before your arrival." explained Knowledge. "It remains a mystery to us… but I have an idea regarding who did it."

"Let me guess : Beast Boy ?" the empath proposed.

"Yes, that was my guess…" admitted the yellow-clad female.

There was a silence, Raven pondering all of it… until a bulb lit up in her attic.

"The spell ! The spell he read in my room, when they played their silly game with Cyborg ! It was a spell of disappearance ! And it unexpectedly struck the white chess pieces ! I'm sure it's what occurred !"

"Always said that the green ass deserved a good punishment ! That sucker doesn't know how to behave !" less than politely remarked Rude.

"I knew it ! I swear it's the last time I leave my room unlocked ! Those immature boys won't put another foot in there again ! Never in their whole life !" continued the sorceress.

"Master, please don't be too severe with them ! They are still your friends ! And perhaps that what happened was an accident, and not their real intention ! Why would they be willing to make your chess pieces disappear ?" objected Love.

Raven was about to reply when something else came on her mind.

"But now that I think of it… how did they put the pieces back in their place ? Well, they say they didn't, but if it wasn't them, then who…"

"It were all of us who teleported them back to the chessboard !" confessed the glasses-wearer.

"Yeah, and let me tell you I was glad to do that : talking to that Rook was so exhausting… it really made me lose at least a good hour of sleep… and it tires me up just _remembering_ it… and even more talking about all this…" slowly said Sloth, concluding her utterance with a yawn.

After another thoughtful moment, the Azarathian made four little nods in a row, indicating that she understood everything that had happened, and how it had taken place.

"I really should punish Beast Boy and Cyborg for what they did…" started Raven, but her eyes met Love's, and she tempered her revenge will : "…yet I think I will let it go just this once. Because they didn't lie to me, because they got scared enough and will learn their lesson (although I'm still locking my room henceforth, just in case…), and because all of my chess pieces are back on the chessboard. Which I am very grateful to you all for."

The eight emoticlones bowed again, indicating that they were honored and modestly admitted their help had been decisive (exactly the contrary of Beast Boy the Boaster).

And all were pleased that their Master's problem was solved.

Even Rage.

"I am sorry that this happened and bothered you…" the Dark Titan said.

"Hey, I wasn't bothered !" objected Happy.

"Neither was I." added Love.

"Well, that _part of you_ were bothered…" Raven corrected, quickly glancing at Rage and Brave, those who had been the most upset by their visitors.

"It isn't important. After all, it brought some novelty in our everyday life, didn't it ?" noted Knowledge, looking at all her sisters.

"Mmmmmh… yeah…" reluctantly said Brave.

"You're always trying to get the positive side of everything, Knowledge…" the four-eyed emotion said in her low voice.

"Oh, come on ! It wasn't that bad ! A bit of change won't hurt !" exclaimed Happy, taking the defense of her clever sister.

Raven smiled as she listened to them. Their slight, mild quarrelling was always funny to watch… as long as it remained overall respectful, peaceful, and didn't degenerate.

"I have to go meditate now. But I'm pleased to see everything is back in order here, and once again thank you to you all for your help !"

Another common reverence.

"Have a good evening !" Raven concluded as she took off, and soon she was out of sight.

"So now what ?" asked Rude, scratching her butt and belching.

"How about you start by stopping your disgusting habits ?!" scolded Brave, arms crossed.

The Orange Cloak answered to that… with a fart !

The green-clad girl turned to the red one.

"How about you hold her firmly and I beat her ?"

Rage's angry expression was replaced by an evil smile.

"That's not a bad idea…" she slowly said, her naughty multiple gaze on Rude.

"Now now, please let's not fight ! We are for once all gathered. We should behave in a civil manner. Master would disapprove it !" declared Knowledge.

Happy's face lit up.

"Hey, I have an idea ! Since we are all together, we could play a game !"

They all looked at her, several eyebrows raised.

"And I know just the perfect game !" continued the cheerful one. "CHESS !"

This time, they all sweat-dropped for good, goggling at the airy-fairy emotion of their group.

And the Pink Cloak guffawed as loud as she could upon spotting the mix of surprise and shock on her sisters' faces… !

"Ah ah ! Gotcha !" she happily exclaimed, laughing harder. "You're all… checkmated !"

/.-*=)=:_\\#("!?/.-*=)=:_\\#("!? THE /\ END /.-*=)=:_\\#("!?/.-*=)=:_\\#("!?


	12. Goodbye Chessboard !

**/./././././././././././././././ GOODBYE CHESSBOARD ! /./././././././././././././././**

 **Greetings, Folxxxx !**

 **There are a few song titles I find particularly pertinent, and one of them is George Harrison's ALL THINGS MUST PASS. (as a matter of fact, it is the title of both a song… and the album that contains it).**

 **I'm fond of this title because it expresses one of those general truths you cannot go against, one of those indisputable realities that you are forced to agree with. For yes indeed, all things must pass : they all will have an end at some point. Nothing is eternal, ever, except naturally spiritual entities like God or souls (for those who do believe). But all the rest will disappear one day, and there is nothing we can do to prevent that. Nothing at all.**

 **And in this case, what will pass is… this story.**

 **Eh, y'know, it's been almost a year since I started this thing. Two more weeks (and not 'years', like Bloc Party sang) and that would be it : exactly one year since I published the first words of this story… well, not directly the story, since the first "chapter" was in fact an introduction, a kind of long Author's Note (which the Robocops of FF, known as c…un.t.. (yes, this abbreviation hasn't been chosen by chance…), have been pointing at, criticizing it for not being part of a chapter, and that's against the rules, please comply, otherwise we'll report you and yadda yadda yadda… narrow-minded blind ones doing their "rounds of reporting", as they call it on their forums, to tell on users who "shamelessly infringe" the Holy FF Scriptures (kinda remind me of French "collaborators" or "collabos", ya know, although this here is obviously less serious). Do they even write stories of theirs and thus use this website for its main purpose ? Not even sure, coz for all I know, they might only spend all their free time denouncing others like good "collaborators", isn't it…). And if one or more of them is reading this : "as you make your bed, so you must lie in it".**

 **Anyway, enough time wasted about writing about what's unworthy of it…**

 **So, what to retain from this story exactly ?**

 **Well, I've always had a soft spot for dramatic stuff in general, with much emotion and fine analysis of feelings, and drama is my fav' cinematographic genre… which is paradoxical, coz I'm a pretty cool and funny guy, in a good mood most of the time (even if I'm not particularly optimistic about this planet's fate…). I like to humor people, joke with them, prank them, love to smile and laugh, and I thought that it would be a nice thing to write a story to let my nature come out, and not always my paradoxical taste for drama.**

 **And that's how CHECKMATED ! came into elaboration.**

 **I tried to put as much humor as I could, without exaggerating… and I do hope that I didn't "overstep the limits", fun-wise ! Writing amusing plots isn't my specialty, but I've done as much as I could to help you spend a nice time in here, and by God, I do wish you indeed appreciated this one-time fun story. It was my first attempt at the genre, so please be merciful with me about it. And please forgive me for delaying the updates, but both existence's hectic flow and INLAND EMPIRE were mostly "responsible" for that.**

 **I had a really cool time crafting this and I hope you had an equally cool time reading it, and enjoyed most of it. But if you are still here with me right now, taking in this "afterword", it means you've made it until the very end… and that it can only imply one thing : that you indeed liked this fiction !**

 **I would be glad to read any concluding comment / critic of yours – except if it comes from c…un.t.. and is therefore solely about non-story chapters instead of a pertinent review of the story itself.**

 **I would notably be interested in knowing which was your favourite chappy, your favourite emoticlone, your favourite chess piece.**

 **And now, what's next ?**

 **Well, I've still got INLAND EMPIRE "up my sleeve", with Ana, and I'm planning to write some brand new stuff which will be an unusual compound of two very different genres, and in a new FF archive, i.e. one I haven't written in up to now. So much for diversification, right ? ;)**

 **Thank you all very very much for caring to read this, for your reviews (except the two useless ones by c…un.t..), for your support. I wish you all the best in your own undertakings and send you all my sympathy… and humor, eh ! ;P**

 **Be what is best to be : H.A.P.P.Y. !**

 **Peace, Love, Ecstasy !**

 ****** Léo ******


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